Healthier meals to be enforced

A major new drive to improve the quality of school meals is launched today.

The Government will set legal limits on the amount of fat, salt and sugar that processed foods such as burgers and sausages can contain.

And from September next year, all school meals will have to conform to tougher nutritional standards. As the Evening Standard revealed last month, education watchdog Ofsted will be responsible for making sure the meals meet the new legal requirements.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly, who has four young chi ldren, is responding to a growing parental revolt against unhealthy school food.

She believes that parents-have the right to know exactly what is in the meals served to their children.

Ms Kelly wants to create a School Food Trust, composed of experts from the food and farming industry as well as campaign groups, to promote higher nutritional standards.

Schools are currently required to serve healthy options such as salads and baked potatoes. But comprehensives can dish up chips and processed food such as chicken nuggets or hamburgers five times a week.

Last month, an Evening Standard inquiry showed that large amounts of processed food is served in London comprehensives every day.

The latest initiative is an admission that the introduction of legal minimum nutrition standards in 2001 has failed.