Putting the School Food Standards into Practice
School Food Standards are designed to support caterers and cooks in providing students with healthy meals and snacks throughout the school day. Registered dietitian Juliette Kellow shares her tips on interpreting the Standards to create menus that are delicious, nutritious, sustainably sourced, and produced within time, budget, and resource frameworks.
Catering staff working within education establishments will be familiar with the School Food Standards, a set of mandatory requirements intended to encourage healthy eating, promote good eating habits, and provide children with the energy and nutrients they need while at school.
The Standards concentrate on promoting a balanced diet rich in foods that supply a wide range of nutrients, including those most likely to be lacking in children’s diets. Alongside this, they limit foods and drinks that typically make the biggest contributions to saturated fat, sugar, and salt intakes in children’s diets.
Eatwell Guide
While each country in the UK has its own set of Standards, the principles are similar and based on the Eatwell Guide. This visual model shows the types and proportions of foods that should be eaten to achieve a nutritious, balanced, and sustainable diet. It’s suitable for use in primary and secondary schools as it applies to children aged five and older (between the ages of two and five years, children should gradually move towards the recommendations).
Here’s how to comply with the Standards while creating tasty, nutritious, and imaginative menus tailored to suit the preferences of students at your school
1. Check the Correct Legislation is Being Used
Each country in the UK — England [1], Scotland [2], Wales [3], and Northern Ireland [4] — has its own laws and guidance documents outlining the rules for school food provision. Though they are all based on the Eatwell Guide, implementation varies across the countries. For example, while all countries provide information on foods and drinks permitted in schools, Scotland and Wales go one step further and set nutrient standards for some meals, such as school lunches, with maximum limits for fat, saturated fat, sugars, and sodium, and minimum amounts for key nutrients such as protein, fibre, iron, calcium, and folate. Some advice, such as portion size guidance, is also tailored for primary and secondary schools.
2. Think Beyond Lunch
The school food standards in each country apply to more than just school lunches. They cover all food and drink available in schools throughout the day, including breakfasts, morning breaks, after-school clubs, tuck shops, and vending machines. This means it’s just as important to plan nutritious breakfasts and snacks as healthy lunches — and ensure that ready-prepared foods and drinks sold in schools meet the required standards. In England, the government’s plan to introduce free breakfast clubs in all state-funded primary schools means those without existing breakfast provision will soon need to develop compliant menus. As part of an early adopter scheme, up to 750 state-funded schools will receive early access to funding to deliver free, universal breakfast clubs, starting in April 2025 [5].
3. Focus on Foods to Include
Guidance on school food provision outlines the types and frequency of foods to serve each week. These foods are recommended because they provide students with energy and nutrients that are vital for growth, development, and overall health. Good nutrition also supports brain function, energy levels, and children’s ability to concentrate, which in turn can have a positive impact on behaviour, engagement with lessons, and overall academic performance [6]. To create a meaningful nutrition impact, use healthier ingredients in popular menu items — e.g., switch to wholegrain varieties of best-selling starchy carbs like pasta, rice, and bread to boost fibre in students’ diets. Remember to take advantage of government schemes providing free or discounted milk, fruit, or vegetables. For example, state-funded schools in England with 4–6-year-old pupils can sign up to the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which provides children with a free piece of fruit or vegetable every school day outside of lunch [7].
4. Think Sustainably
While school food standards focus on nutrition, it’s increasingly important to also consider the environment when purchasing and preparing meals and snacks. The school food standards in England advise using the Sustainable Procurement: Government Buying Standards (GBS) [8] to aid responsible sourcing. Easy wins include buying seasonal and local food, introducing more plant-based dishes, adding more vegetables, potatoes, grains, and pulses to dishes (replacing some or all meat), and ensuring seafood is sustainably sourced and MSC certified [9].
5. Be Positive About Foods to Limit or Avoid
The standards identify foods to limit — such as fried and batter-coated foods, pastry dishes, and condiments — and those to avoid, such as confectionery, chocolate, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and added salt. This is particularly important given that 89% of 4-to-10-year-olds and 82% of 11-to-18-year-olds exceed the recommended maximum for saturated fat. Plus, intakes of free sugars — those added to foods and drinks, plus honey, syrups, and fruit juice — are double the advised limit, with primary and secondary school children consuming the equivalent of around 12 and 14 teaspoons of sugar a day, respectively [10].
6. Get the Measure of Portion Sizes
Providing students with appropriate portions of food can help to reduce waste. This means budgets are used efficiently, and nutrients go into bodies rather than the bin, benefitting both health and the environment. The standards provide recommended serving size suggestions for primary and secondary school students, so bear these in mind when planning meals.
7. Adapt the Standards to Suit Your Students
As the Standards are based on foods and drinks, there’s flexibility for caterers to create varied menus that incorporate a wide range of vegetarian, vegan, and culturally diverse choices. It’s also easy to develop themed menus that celebrate annual events such as Christmas, Lunar New Year, Diwali, Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day), Easter, and Bonfire Night, or global occasions such as the Olympics or Football World Cup. Receiving feedback from students on menu preferences can drive innovation. Distribute questionnaires or hold discussion groups to gather ideas. Introduce new dishes via taster sessions — students may avoid trying new unfamiliar items and go hungry if this is not done with students’ tastes in mind.
8. Think About Drinks
School food standards for each country stress that water is the gold standard for drinks and that it must be available free of charge throughout the day in schools. But they allow other drinks, too. Though there are variations across the four countries, permitted drinks typically include lower-fat milks (including flavoured milks that limit or contain no added sugars), plain calcium-enriched soya, rice, or oat drinks, plain yogurt drinks, up to 150ml unsweetened fruit or vegetable juice (this can be mixed with still or sparkling water), and drinks made from any combinations of the above. Each UK country offers a scheme providing schools with subsidised milk — make sure schools are enrolled. Find out more at Dairy UK [11].
9. Consider Nutrition Analysis
There’s no legal requirement for schools in England and Northern Ireland to provide nutrition information for foods and drinks served at school. In contrast, Scotland and Wales have nutrient-based standards for school meals, so nutrition calculations are needed to ensure compliance. However, this isn’t a mandatory requirement for other foods, such as snacks. Even if not a legal requirement, providing nutrition information signals a premium catering service.
10. Check Compliance Regularly
Schools are legally required to comply with the relevant regulations on food and drink provision and provide evidence to governing bodies that these standards are met, so it’s important to regularly review menus and dishes to ensure they meet the criteria. If food and meals are supplied by external companies, check that existing and new catering contracts clearly state that compliance with the standards, together with supporting evidence, is required.
11. Take a Whole School Approach
Consider setting up a school food group with students, catering staff, and teachers. This recognises the catering department’s role in teaching healthy eating and ties into a whole school food policy that encourages healthy, sustainable diets and a positive food relationship. Learn more from the School Food 4 Change project [12].
12. Work with a Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist
Although purchasing programs offer nutrition analysis, it’s wise to employ a registered dietitian or nutritionist to verify accuracy, interpret results, ensure correct nutrition display, and create resources for caterers, students, staff, governors, and parents. They can also assist with healthy menu development AND reformulation, and help schools develop and monitor whole school food policies.
Contact Us
If you would like to find out more about how Litmus Edge could help you put The School Food Standards into practice at your school or trust, contact us today.
Authors Bio
Juliette Kellow is a highly experienced nutrition consultant with over 20 years of expertise working with food-focused clients. Originally from Cornwall, she holds a first-class BSc Honours Degree in Dietetics from Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University).
Her career spans roles as an NHS dietitian, food industry nutritionist, and editor of Top Santé magazine. Juliette has collaborated with the food industry on reformulation, NPD, fortification, nutrition legislation, and professional presentations.
As a published co-author of books such as Eat Better Live Longer and Simply Nutrition (DK Books) and with hundreds of articles to her name, Juliette specialises in making nutrition accessible. A member of the British Dietetic Association and registered with the HCPC, her work is both credible and evidence-based.
Bibliography
1 Gov.UK (2025) School food standards practical guide
2 Scottish Government (2021) Heathy eating in schools: guidance 2020
3 Welsh Government (2014) Healthy eating in maintained schools
4 Department of Education (2011) Nutritional Standards Guidance
5 Gov.UK. Department for Education. Breakfast clubs early adopter guidance for schools and trusts in England. Published 25 January 2025.
6 Chikwere, P. Diet, a factor for academic performance in school-aged children: systematic review of recent studies. All Nations University Journal of Applied Thought. 2019, 7 (1), Article 6.
7 Change 4 Life. School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.
8 DEFRA. Sustainable Procurement: The Government Buying Standards (GBS). Updated 21 December 2017.
9 Marine Stewardship Council. Where to buy MSC certified sustainable seafood.
10 GovUK. NDNS: results from years 9 to 11 (2016 to 2017 and 2018 to 2019). 11 December 2020.
11 Dairy UK. School milk in your area.
12 School Food 4 Change. Whole school food approach.