13 Apr 2026 New School Food Standards: What’s changing and why?
The Government have announced a long-overdue update to the School Food Standards, with high-sugar and deep-fried foods to be taken off the menu in a bid to improve child health.
The government have launched a 9 week consultation on proposed changes to the School Food Standards – the first review since 2015. At the heart of the changes is a push to reduce sugar, deep fried foods and processed meats, and increase pupil’s consumption of beans, pulses, vegetables and whole grains.
Schools play a huge role in shaping children’s long term eating habits, and with rising concerns around childhood obesity and diet-related illness, bringing the School Food Standards in line with the latest nutritional guidance from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) to reduce sugar and increase fibre intakes has the potential to significantly improve children’s long-term dietary intake and health.
For many children, particularly those from lower-income families, school meals provide a substantial share of their daily nutritional intake, making it essential that they are healthy and well balanced.
Food Active Programme Lead, Nicola Calder, said:
“The government’s decision to review the school food standards for the first time since 2015 is a welcome and necessary step toward improving children’s health. Children are consuming twice the recommended amount of free sugars, and not enough fruits, vegetables and dietary fibre. Updating the standards has the potential to make a meaningful impact on the nutritional status of our future generations, particularly as school food contributes significantly to children’s diets.
We are particularly pleased to see the government is committed to developing a robust national enforcement system to monitor school compliance to the new standards. This is a significant step to improve public health outcomes, however schools must be supported with the resources, guidance and funding needed to implement these changes effectively”.
