Raising Nutritional Standards

The Government's new School Food Standards cover all food sold or served in schools.

In December 2007 The School Food Trust launched its guide to introducing government food-based and nutrient-based standards for school lunches. These standards legally had to be met by September 2008 for Primary schools. Secondary and Specialist schools had until September 2009 to comply.

EasyTrace worked closely with both the School Food Trust and Ofsted during development of its Cashless Catering solution, resulting in the creation of the most user-friendly system on the market. The solution uses Point of Sale (POS) units, which are fully customisable to offer maximum flexibility. As well as storing every item that the department offers, it may also be programmed with 'meal deals' to help promote healthy eating.

EasyTrace Cashless Catering can be used to record the nutritional content of each school meal and can report back on an individual, year group or whole school basis, so that meal choices can be reviewed and control can be exercised over spending as required. It is possible, for example, to set an upper spend limit for each day. This data can then be used by the school's nutrient analysis software to aid the reporting required to meet government guidelines on food and nutrition. Thus enabling schools to ensure the right balance of nutritional standards for their pupils.

It's also easy to introduce a loyalty scheme to encourage healthy eating via the EasyTrace Cashless Catering system.

For further information:

www.dcsf.gov.uk
www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk