Australian schools are being made to change their canteen menus as various states across the country have introduced new, shocking food bans.
South Australia and Western Australia are the first states to introduce new restrictions for school canteens, consequently sparking outrage among parents.
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New guidelines have been inflicted on school canteens across South Australia, banning Aussie favorites such as fairy bread, hot chips, and ice cream.
In a new healthy eating overhaul, the Department of Education has declared that these food items should not be provided at canteens or packed in children’s lunch boxes.
This shocking news follows after changes were made to the Western Australian guidelines that reclassified ham as “red” in the state’s traffic light system, therefore banning it from sale at school canteens.
Sausage rolls, meat pies, biscuits, honey, and other classic Australian menu items have been limited to no more than twice a school term “as part of whole-school celebrations or fundraising events”.
What is the traffic light system?
The traffic light system classifies food and drinks into different colours as a way to separate the healthiness of foods. “Green” category foods should make up the majority of the canteen menu, with 60 per cent as the recommended target.
Items that fall under the “amber” category should be consumed less often and in small quantities, with a maximum of 40 per cent as the recommended target.
The SA system splits the “red” category into two sections while WA keeps this category as one, banning any food and drinks categorised under this group from school canteens.
As per the South Australian recommendations, “red 1” limits items under the category to only be sold to students up to twice per term while “red 2” essentially bans the items under this category from being “supplied, provided or sold to students at school.”
What foods are banned in Australian schools?
Looking at the South Australian “Right Bite Food and Drink Supply Standards” specifically, we see many unexpected food and drink items placed into the “red” categories.
Amber category
Food and drink under the amber category should be consumed less often and in small quantities. Though these items may provide some nutritional value, the options tend to contain salt, added sugar, and moderate amounts of saturated fat.
The examples listed include, “some yoghurts, lightly salted popcorn, and some homemade cakes and muffins.”
Red 1 category
As suggested by the Department of Education, these items should only be sold to students up to twice per term. The food and drink items included are based on the discretionary option in the Australian Dietary Guidelines; they have added salt or sugar, are low in nutritional value and fibre, and are high in saturated fat.
The examples listed include, “cakes and muffins, slices, sweet pastries, donuts, croissants, cream-filled buns, savoury pastries such as pies, pasties, and sausage rolls, other savoury hot or cold foods such as noodles, crumbed and coated foods, hot dogs, and frankfurts, savoury snack foods such as crisps, chips, and biscuits, and most ice-creams.”
Red 2 category
Items under this category should not be supplied, provided or sold to students at school. They provide limited nutritional value and can often contain ingredients unsafe for children.
The examples listed include, “deep fried foods, all confectionery, including chocolate and fruit-based confectionery, food and drinks with added sweeteners… sugar sweetened drinks, carbonated drinks, drinks containing guarana or caffeine, flavoured mineral water, sports waters, protein waters, high protein drinks, kombucha, and fruit-based slushies in serving sizes more than 250ml per serve.”
Though the Western Australian categories are very similar, the recent change made by the WA Department of Health moved ham and other processed red meat to the “red” category… this is what’s sparking an uproar among parents, specifically in WA.
Megan Sauzier, WA School Canteen Association chief told NCA NewsWire the recent change has caused “concern” and confusion among parents.
“They are a little confused, I think would be fair to say,” she said on Monday.
“They need things that are easy to prepare and when that (a ham-and-cheese sandwich) is served alongside a broad range of other healthy green items, like fruits and vegetables and meals and pastas, then ham as an amber, we see as being acceptable.”
How are parents responding to the recent food ban?
Following the recent news, a poll conducted by the Adelaide Advertiser asked readers whether “fairy bread [should] be cut from SA schools?”… in under 24 hours, 2,522 votes were cast, revealing that 89 per cent voted “no”.
Hundreds of people left comments on articles revolving around the new guidelines, with many parents becoming outraged about the issue.
“Seriously, the seemingly constant regulation of children’s lunches at school is becoming absolutely ridiculous,” one said.
However, some expressed their support, with one reader commenting, “I don’t even know why some one would think to send their child with fairy bread any ways.”
