Packed Lunches

Good nutrition in childhood can help to prevent a variety of health problems, both in the short term and later in life. There is increasing concern that many children are consuming too much fat, sugar and salt and too little fibre, fruit and vegetables. Packed lunches can contribute to almost a third of a child’s weekly food intake and therefore need to be balanced and nutritious. Please see below a list of what foods and drink are not permitted. 

Restricted items:

To ensure consistency and to keep packed lunches in line with food standards for school meals, packed lunches should not contain the following:

Fizzy / sugary drinks in cartons, bottles or cans

Chocolate-coated products / sweets / confectionary

Chocolate spread as a filling for sandwiches

Chewing gum

Sugared / toffee/ salted popcorn

Crisps or any packet savoury snacks high in salt and fat

No products containing nuts

Energy drinks

As many fruit juices contain high amounts of sugar, we will only be permitting water in packed lunches.

A good packed lunch contains:

A starchy food, such as bread, rolls, pitta bread, naan bread, potatoes, rice, noodles. (These foods are good for children to fill up on.)

A good source of protein, iron and zinc such as meat, fish, beans or eggs.

A good source of calcium such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais.

And one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetable or salad to provide all the other vitamins and minerals. A piece of fruit could be a piece of fresh fruit, dried fruit or tinned fruit in fruit juice. A piece of vegetable could be fresh vegetables such as a carrot stick, salad or a vegetable soup or vegetable dish.