A third of hot school meals don’t meet basic nutritional standards, with concerns raised over fruit and vegetable availability in the $330 million program.
The hot food being served at Irish primary schools are not meeting nutrtional standards, according to a dietitian(Image: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos)
Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary has revealed that at least a third of hot school meals provided do not meet fundamental nutritional standards.
This issue has sparked concerns among members of Parliament, parents, and others regarding the nutritional quality of hot school meals. Irish celebrity chef Darina Allen even likened them to airline food.
In September, a dietitian was hired to evaluate 400 free school meals offered at primary schools throughout Ireland. The meals were assessed based on five basic nutritional values, out of a total of 16 different nutritional elements given to providers as guidelines, reports Irish Mirror.
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On Wednesday, Calleary disclosed that a third of the meals served failed to meet at least three of the five basic nutritional standards.
“In our dietitian’s initial work, she has found general compliance (with) nutritional standards,” Calleary stated on RTE Radio. “There are issues. There are issues pertaining to the availability of fruit and vegetables.”
The food is being compared to that of airline food (Image: Getty Images )
The 16 nutritional guidelines include suggestions such as every meal should incorporate two servings of fruit, vegetables or salad, fish should be served once a week, and salt should not be added to water when cooking rice or pasta.
The guidelines also mandate that fresh drinking water should be accessible daily and that funding “must not be spent on sugar-sweetened drinks.”
These guidelines were issued in 2021 as part of Healthy Ireland, the national framework aimed at enhancing the health of the Irish population.
All primary schools in Ireland are eligible for the program
Calleary revealed the dietitian will conduct surprise inspections at schools going forward, noting that 400 schools underwent examination last year.
“There are 16 standards, she’s just looked at five initially. That’s why she wants to do more work,” he explained.
“That’s why she wants to get into schools, because the predominance of her work to date has been desktop, looking at menus, so she’s going going to get out into schools. But I would say that the overall theme, the overall report, is in the right direction.”
He disclosed that last April, he issued a directive to eliminate high fat, high salt ‘treat’ foods from being served, and 80% of food providers had complied with it.
Calleary stated he aimed to decrease the quantity of ultra-processed foods in the hot school meal program and indicated he would be “weeding out that remaining 20%.”
The nutritional quality of the hot meals is being questioned
“They were initially designed as once a week option, the high salt, the high sugar foods – they became five days a week, so we’ve taken them off completely. I moved very quickly in that,” he remarked.
He mentioned there are cold alternatives available in certain schools but hot meals are “better” nutritionally, and noted another matter being reviewed by the dietitian was portion sizes, which could help to tackle food waste.
The program launched in 2019 as a pilot initiative to supply meals in an attempt to guarantee children receive one hot meal a day, at a cost of $639 million. The hot school meals program is projected to cost $280 million in 2026, with a cost of $3.20 per meal, involving 300 suppliers, 3,200 schools, and 550,000 eligible students.
“We’ve adopted a universal approach to this because you can’t know what’s happening in any household, and for kids especially, it’s crucial that they’re not singled out. I believe the universal approach is a much more positive and equitable method.”
