The British government plans to ban common school lunch foods, such as chicken nuggets and fish and chips, as part of a major update to food standards in England.
These updates are the first significant changes to school meal standards in over a decade. The government is making these changes to address growing rates of childhood obesity; recent data from the NHS shows that nearly a quarter of young children – 24% of those in nursery and primary school – were either overweight or obese in 2024.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced a major update to school food standards, calling it the most significant change in a generation. She emphasized that all children deserve tasty, healthy meals at school to help them focus, learn, and grow – meals they’ll actually like and that schools will be held accountable to deliver.
The updated guidelines completely prohibit all deep-fried foods, such as battered fish and chicken nuggets. Desserts, on the other hand, must be made with at least half fruit.
New rules target fried foods and sugary desserts
New rules will begin in September 2026, with more changes happening by September 2027. Right now, schools are allowed to serve fried foods twice a week and offer desserts with less fruit up to three times a week.
Henry Dimbleby, who helped create the 2013 plan for improving school meals and co-founded the Leon restaurant chain, believes these new changes offer a unique opportunity to completely rethink school food.
He believes September could be the beginning of a better situation for school lunches – one where all children receive meals that are both tasty and healthy, and parents feel secure knowing what their kids are eating. If implemented effectively, this would improve children’s health, help them perform better in school, and increase their opportunities for future success.
Five groups – Bite Back, Chefs in Schools, Jamie Oliver Group, School Food Matters, and The Food Foundation – have teamed up to create the School Food Project, which aims to improve meals in schools. They’ve already raised £2.3 million and plan to start the project in September 2026.
Jamie Oliver, the well-known chef who has worked for over 20 years to make school lunches healthier, has welcomed the government’s decision to strengthen and enforce those standards. He said he was very pleased with the move.
He pointed out that twenty years ago, dog food was often made to a higher standard than school lunches. Now, starting this September, schools will be responsible for providing two-thirds of the food children eat during the school day, which is a huge chance to improve children’s health across the country.
D’Arcy Williams, the CEO of Bite Back, described the changes as something that should have happened a long time ago, but stressed that it’s important to make sure they are actually followed and put into practice.
Williams explained that the current system isn’t effective. While we have health standards for children, they aren’t being consistently followed because of a lack of oversight. This has led to many schools prioritizing quick and easy meals over healthy options.
In 2023, students at Warwick University successfully campaigned to remove meat from the school’s cafeteria menu. A vote of nearly 800 students led the university to offer only vegan options.
Read More
- Solo Leveling’s New Manhwa Chapter Revives a Forgotten LGBTQ Story After 2 Years
- The Boys Season 5 Spoilers: Every Major Character Death If the Show Follows the Comics
- Gold Rate Forecast
- All Itzaland Animal Locations in Infinity Nikki
- How to Get to the Undercoast in Esoteric Ebb
- Mewgenics vinyl limited editions now available to pre-order
- Smarter, Faster Networks: Optimizing Early-Exit Architectures for Edge AI
- Shiba Inu reappointed as “inspector” dog by Japanese police
- CBR’s Official Spring 2026 Anime Series Power Ranking (Week 1)
- TikToker’s viral search for soulmate “Mike” takes brutal turn after his wife responds
2026-04-13 21:50