Fruit and Vegetables
(All Forms - fresh, frozen, canned, dried, juiced)

• Not less than two portions per day per child, at least one of which should be salad or vegetable and at least one should be fruit.
• Fruit based desserts with a content of at least 50% fruit must be available at least twice a week.

Meat, fish, eggs, cheese and alternative sources of protein -
nuts, pulses and beans.

• A food from this group must be provided on a daily basis.
• Red meat must be served at least twice a week.
• Fish must be served at least once per week, of which oily fish shall be provided at least once every three weeks.

Meat Products

These foods are now restricted. A meat product (manufactured or home-made) from each of the following 4 groups may be provided no more than once per fortnight providing the meat product also meets the standards for minimum meat content and does not contain any prohibited offal:

• Group1 - Burger, chopped/corned meat.
• Group 2 - Sausage, sausage meat.
• Group 3 - Individual meat pie/pudding, pasty or sausage roll.
• Group 4 - Any other shaped or coated meat products.

Starchy Foods

• A food from this group should be available on a daily basis. These foods include bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and noodles.
• Fat or oil shall not be used in the cooking process on more than three times a week, on such occasions an alternative starchy food not cooked in fat or oil must be available.
• Unbuttered Bread to be available as an extra on a daily basis.

Deep Fried Foods

• No more than two deep-fried items in a single week. This includes products that are deep fried in the cooking or manufacturing process.

Milk and Dairy Foods

• A food from this group should be available on a daily basis.

Drinks

The only drinks available should be:

• Plain water
• Milk (skimmed or semi skimmed)
• Pure fruit juice
• Drinks made from a combination of the above

(Also tea, coffee, low-calorie hot chocolate, yoghurt & milk drinks with less than 5% added sugar)

Water

• There should be easy access at all times to free, fresh drinking water.

Salt and Condiments

• Table salt should not be made available.
• If made available, other condiments should be available only in sachets or individual portions of 10g (one teaspoon full).

Confectionery and Savoury Snacks

• Confectionery, chocolate and chocolate coated products not to be available. The only savoury snacks available should be nuts or seeds with no added salt or sugar. Savoury crackers or breadsticks can only be served with fruit & vegetables or dairy foods as part of the school lunch.