Only one meat product (manufactured or homemade) from each of the four separate groups can be provided across the school day within a fortnight.
What is specified in this standard?
Meat products (including manufactured and homemade) are categorised into four groups. A product from each group below may be provided no more than once per fortnight.
- Group 1: Burger, hamburger, chopped meat, corned meat.
- Group 2: Sausage, sausage meat, link, chipolata, luncheon meat.
- Group 3: Individual meat pie, meat pudding, Melton Mowbray pie, game pie, Scottish (or Scotch) pie, pasty, pastie, bridie, sausage rolls
- Group 4: Any other shaped or coated meat product e.g. nuggets, goujons, coated (e.g. breaded or battered) chicken breast, meat balls, haggis, kofta kebabs.
The meat product must also meet the minimum meat content levels specified in the Meat Products (England) Regulations 2003, or the equivalent for burgers if they are not specified in those regulations. Economy burgers are banned and so is certain offal*.
Why this standard needs to be in place
- To improve the quality of meat and poultry products used in schools.
- To cut down on the number of times that meat products are provided.
- To reduce the fat content of children’s diets.
- To ban products which contain offal on the prohibited list.
- To encourage children to embrace greater diversity in their diets and to explore new taste experiences in and out of school.
Serving suggestions
- Replace manufactured products with fresh meat and poultry. For example, you could replace chicken nuggets with chicken legs and shaped products with bolognese or curry.
- Large single crust, multi-portion pies do not fall into Group 3.
Good practice
- Try to avoid highly processed meat products and concentrate on good quality products with a high muscle meat content.
- Talk to your suppliers to make sure that their manufactured products are of a high enough quality to meet this requirement.
Does this standard apply across the school day?
Yes. Only one of the meat products from each of the four groups listed may be provided no more than once a fortnight across the school day. It is important that there is a process in place to check the food provision in all outlets operating within the school to ensure this standard is met across all outlets.
*Offal
The list of prohibited offal is: brains, lungs, rectum, stomach, feet, oesophagus, spinal cord, testicles, large intestine, small intestine, spleen and udder. Mammalian large or small intestine may be used as a sausage skin (including chipolatas, frankfurters, salami, links and similar products).
