Welsh county prepares for fruit juice ban in schools

Twm Owen Local Democracy Reporter

Fruit juices are to be banned from school dinners and breakfast clubs from October with pupils having to sip milk or water instead.

New regulations will also see beans and pulses made a mandatory addition to primary school menus every week.

Portion sizes of burgers and chicken goujons are also set to reduce but a council dietician said it should be stressed the changes aren’t about cost cutting as servings of more expensive fruit and vegetables will be increased.

School catering dietician for Torfaen Borough Council Louis Gillam said the new regulations, introduced by the Welsh Government, are intended to reduce the risk of type two diabetes.

She told the council’s education scrutiny committee: “There is good thinking behind it. Fruit juices have been shown, with regular intake, to increase the risk of type two diabetes it’s the same intake of sugar in the blood as drinking a can of Coca-Cola.”

Catering staff will instead have to encourage children to eat the whole fruit they will be provided with to ensure they receive the vitamin C they would previously have had from fruit juices.

The dietician also said the council would need to ensure parents understand the new regulations, which replace and strengthen school meal standards from 2013, aren’t a council cost cutting drive.

“Portions for processed meats, burgers and chicken goujons, will be limited to 55 grammes. It will need promotion to let people know it is because of the regulation changes or people will think it is down to cost cutting.

“We will offer more and larger portions of fruit and veg which are more expensive than the things we have taken out. We need to be clear it is not our decision and comes from the regulations.”

Asked about the impact of the new regulations on the catering service, that provides school meals for all Torfaen’s primary schools, catering manager Tracey James said: “The biggest challenge is breakfast clubs no longer able to serve orange juice and fruit juices it will just be milk or water only. That will cause some conern.”

Ms James said there had been a consultation on the changes, which the council had contributed to, but said there is still concern at how children could react: “Beans and pulses will be a tricky one to get a primary school pupil to take more of those, other than a baked bean.”

Education officer John Tushingham said: “The biggest risk is then the young people don’t like the changes in the same way if you change the food you put in front of an adult they don’t like it either. With some foods it is challenging, pulses probably the biggest one.”

At present school breakfast clubs only serve plain cereals, that aren’t coated with sugar or chocolate, and use semi skimmed milk while bread is either 50/50 white and brown or wholemeal.

A report for the committee said the new regulations from October require mandatory daily portions of vegetables or salad, plus fruit with all desserts; increased wholewheat/brown rice and pasta, plus mandatory pulses weekly and restrictions on sweetened baked goods, removal of fruit juice and combination drinks, and limits on added sugar/syrups.

Drinks will be restricted to plain water, semi-skimmed/skimmed milk, and “specific plant-based options”.

The report said the catering service is “well positioned to implement the new regulations” and menus have been submitted to the Welsh Local Government Association for compliancy checks.

Training for cooks and catering staff has been aranged to ensure all staff are fully aware of the changes and rationale behind the new regulations.

The committee said the council should help parents and pupils understand the reasons for the changes to menues as well as provide support for school governing bodies.