6.5 Canteen foods

Ultimately, schools will make their own decisions about what to sell in the school canteen. This can sometimes be difficult because of the large number of food products available today. The School Canteen Advisory Committee offers the following classification of the appropriateness of foods for sale in school canteens, together with suggestions to assist in making such decisions. There are three categories:

GREEN foods = everyday foods

These foods and drinks are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia (NH&MRC, 2003). These foods are based on the basic food groups and include:

• breads and cereals, rice, pasta and noodles
• vegetables and salad vegetables
• fruit – fresh, canned or dried
• dairy foods – reduced fat milk, yoghurt and cheese
• lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and legumes
• water, 100% fruit juice with a serve size less than 300ml.

AMBER foods – select carefully

These foods and drinks contain some valuable nutrients but also have extra fat, sugar and/or salt. These foods include:

• commercial ready to eat hot dishes – some pasta and noodle dishes, reduced fat pastry items, pizza, sausages, quiche, nuggets, burgers
• cakes, muffins, slices
• reduced fat ice creams and dairy desserts, icy poles and slushes
• full fat dairy products – milk, cheese, yoghurt
• flavoured waters, carbonated fruit juice and 100% juice in more than 300 ml servings
• jellied fruit
• snack food bars – breakfast bars, cereal bars, fruit bars
• savoury snacks and biscuits.

These foods should not dominate the menu and be served with GREEN foods whenever possible. These foods need to be FOCiS registered or registrable.

RED foods = occasional foods

These foods and drinks are not consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents (NH&MRC, 2003). These foods and drinks have little nutritional value and can be high in saturated fat, added sugar and added salt. These foods and drinks include:

• deep fried foods
• confectionary
• sweetened drinks, ices, slushes
• some commercial ready to eat foods – crumbed and battered meats, poultry or fish lines and savoury pastry lines
• some sweet and savoury snacks – biscuits, cakes, sweet pastries and crisps
• ice creams – chocolate coated, premium desserts, icy poles.

The Cool Canteen Accreditation Program (Cool CAP) provides guidelines on menu design. It encourages schools to include foods from the core food groups every day the canteen is open, and provides guidelines on healthy counter sales / snack items. In conjunction with The Tasmanian School Canteen Buyers Guide Cool CAP provides advice on the types of food and frequency of use. School canteens are also encouraged to prepare food from basic ingredients.

Food preparation methods are discussed such as:

• the type and use of fat spreads and oils
• the use of low fat toppings such as yoghurt and reduced fat cheese
• the use of salt and low salt ingredients
• the use of wholemeal / wholegrain products
• the addition of fruit and / or vegetables to dishes where possible.

TABLE 1. Canteen food and drinks

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