A fresh nutrient criteria for WA schools

A fresh nutrient criteria

The WA School Food and Drink Criteria, has been developed based on the nutritional requirements of growing school aged children and teenagers. This criteria aligns with current scientific evidence, Australian Dietary Guidelines, nutrient criteria in other jurisdictions and the Australian School Curriculum to ensure all food and drink supplied in the school setting is supportive of a healthy school environment.

The nutrient criteria will come into effect on the 31st January 2024. While changes to the classification of menu items does not need to be implemented immediately, schools should plan for any required changes as part of their regular canteen menu review process. FreshSNAP will be providing support to schools during this time with a range of resources, support and training including the introduction of FoodChecker, an online product and menu assessment tool.

What has changed?

Items reclassified as GREEN:

• All full fat milk, yoghurt and cheese.
• Plain pizza bases.
• All canned vegetables, legumes, and fish (reduced salt requirement removed).
• All vegetarian protein products (e.g., vegetable and legume patties, falafel, tofu, tempeh) if served with at least 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• Cheese and crackers (snack packs).
• Plain popcorn.

Items reclassified as RED:

• All processed red meat, including ham.
• Hot potato and other vegetable products.
• Ice cream, frozen yoghurt with confectionary.
• Carbonated fruit juice drinks.
• Popcorn (with added salt, sugar, confectionary) and legume snacks.
• Sugar.
• Commercial savoury pastry foods.
• Chips and savoury biscuits.
• Commercial sweet biscuits and cookies.
• Commercial sweet cakes, sweet pastries and other desserts.

Half a serve of vegetables must be added to some food items:

• AMBER red meat, poultry, fish and seafood products must be served 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• All crumbed or coated red meat, poultry, fish or seafood must be served with 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• All burger patties, sausages, rissoles, meatballs and fish cakes must be served 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• Commercial plant-based meat alternatives must be served with 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• Processed poultry meat must be served with 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.
• Vegetable and legume patties, falafels, tofu and tempeh must be served with 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables as GREEN, otherwise classified as AMBER.
• Commercial ready-to-eat hot meals must include or be served 1/4 cup cooked or 1/2 a cup of raw salad or vegetables.

Allowances – some RED and AMBER products have an allowance (meaning they can be added to GREEN items without changing the classification of the recipe):

• Mustards, relish, pickles, salsa and chutney.
• Pastes (commercial or made on site).
• Soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce.
• Unsaturated fat oils and spreads.
• Mayonnaise, aioli. Naturally sweet spread or syrup (no added sugar).
• Drink powder (no intense sweeteners).

Condiments reclassified as GREEN or AMBER:

• Nut and seed paste/butter.
• Dips, mayonnaise, aioli, tartar sauce (refer to allowances).
• Cooking and condiment sauces.
• Pasta, simmer and noodle or stir fry and curry sauces.

Maximum serve sizes have changed or been introduced for the following items:

• Banana bread, sweet muffins and scones, savoury muffins and scones.
• Commercial coffee drinks, commercial flavoured milks.
• Dried fruit, nut packets and trail mixes.

^{*Individual serve sizes will impact classification}

Maximum serve sizes have been removed from the following items:

• Commercial hot meals (served with half a serve of salad or vegetables).
• Commercial pizza (served with half a serve of salad or vegetables).
• Commercial salads.
• Commercial plant-based meat alternatives.

Nutrient criteria classification has changed from per serve to per 100g for the following items:

• Snack packs, snack bars, energy and protein bars/products, bliss balls.
• Dairy desserts, ice cream and frozen yoghurt.

Criteria for reduced salt and fat and high fibre products has been removed:

• The reduced salt criteria for canned legumes and vegetables have been removed.
• The reduced salt criteria for cooking sauces and condiments as been removed.
• The reduced fat criteria for all dairy products have been removed.
• Fibre requirement for commercial breakfast cereal has been removed.

A compliant menu

Previously, a compliant canteen menu consisted of:

• A minimum of 60% GREEN food and drinks.
• A maximum of 40% AMBER food and drinks.
• Only offer AMBER savoury commercial products a maximum of twice per week.
• No RED items on the menu.

This requirement remains the same with the following additions:

• Where an AMBER item has been reclassified as a RED item it may be included on the menu and included in your AMBER count. These items are referred to as ‘selected RED items’. These items may only be offered on the same two days a week as other AMBER savoury commercial products.
• This cannot be applied retrospectively. Once a RED item has been removed from a menu, it cannot be re-introduced.

For example:

If your canteen sells AMBER chicken nuggets on Tuesday and Thursday you can also sell hash browns (selected RED item) on those two days. The hash browns will contribute to your 40% AMBER allocation of your total menu. You cannot sell hash browns on any other day.

For more information, refer to the ‘What are selected RED items?’ factsheet.