At least one-third of hot school meals currently offered do not meet basic nutritional standards, Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary has said, reports Breaking News.
TDs, parents, and others have raised concerns about the nutritional quality of hot school meals, with Irish celebrity chef Darina Allen likening them to “airline food”, reports Breaking News.
A dietitian was appointed in September to assess 400 free school meals offered at primary schools across Ireland.
The dietitian evaluated the meals against five core nutritional values, out of 16 different nutritional elements provided to meal suppliers as guidance, reports Breaking News.
Calleary said on Wednesday that a third of the meals 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 said on RTÉ Radio, reports Breaking News.
“There are issues. There are issues pertaining to the availability of fruit and vegetables,” he added.
He said the next stage of the dietitian’s work will involve random inspections in schools, noting that 400 schools were already inspected last year, reports Breaking News.
“There are 16 standards, she’s just looked at five initially. That’s why she wants to do more work.
“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,” reports Breaking News.
Calleary said that in April last year, he instructed the removal of high-fat, high-salt ‘treat’ foods, with 80% of suppliers complying.
He added he wants to reduce ultra-processed foods in the hot school meal programme and intends to “weed out that remaining 20 per cent”, reports Breaking News.
“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 said.
Calleary noted that while some schools offer cold meal options, hot meals are nutritionally “better”, and that portion sizes are also being reviewed to help reduce food waste, reports Breaking News.
The programme began in 2019 as a pilot to ensure children receive one hot meal a day, at a cost of €54.3 million.
By 2026, the hot school meals programme is projected to cost €280 million, or €3.20 per meal, involving 300 suppliers, 3,200 schools, and 550,000 eligible students, reports Breaking News.
“We’ve taken universal approach to this because you don’t know what’s happening in any home, and for children in particular, it’s important that they’re not differentiated. I think the universal approach is a far more positive and fair approach,” Calleary said, reports Breaking News.
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