Reducing sugar levels in school meals

Since September 2004, Canderel has been working to establish a dialogue with both the catering departments of local education authorities (LEAs) and food manufacturers, in an effort to address the issues raised with regard to school foods in the Choosing Health White Paper in 2004 and more recently by the new school food nutritional standards which came into force earlier this year. Our key objective is to reduce the level of sugar in both processed foods and in existing school menu cycles/recipes.

One example is our successful work with Luton Borough Council where sugar levels in a number of dishes in Luton schools have been reduced by 50 % by using Canderel. The switch has allowed schools in Luton to serve meals with lower sugar content, without causing disruption to meal preparation or set menus. Not only has this had nutritional benefits, it has also delivered further savings to the LEA as they have avoided costly menu reprints despite the change. The cost of making the switch from sugar to Canderel in school meals is an increase of approximately half a penny to a penny per portion.

As a result of these positive initiatives and successful partnerships, we are optimistic that Luton Borough Schools will already have met the majority of the Government's nutritional guidelines. We hope to roll out the scheme more widely working together with local education authorities, schools and parents.

Replacing sugar with Canderel in school meals is a medium-term solution. We believe that, as part of a whole school approach, teaching children the importance of physical activity, nutrition and a healthy balanced lifestyle, are all equally important in preventing the risks of obesity.