http://www.catermap.co.uk UK school catering consultancy Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:35:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   Catering consultants, specialising in school and college catering such as Catermap say that schools face real challenges in balancing their budgets during these difficult economic times. There are however always ways to look at overhead costs and improve the quality of meals produced, and not always by simply increasing costs. Pupils say ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/catering-consultants-its-not-what-you-do-but-the-way-that-you-do-it/   The Latest Key Findings as reported by the School Food Trust Pupils have one hour or more for lunch in 68% of primary and 24% of secondary schools. Pupils had lunch periods of 30 minutes or less in 16% of primary and 13% of secondary schools. 13% of primary and 49% of ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/head-teachers-food-survey-2008/ Lemon Chicken (Chinese) – 1,871 calories per serving   General Tso's Chicken (Chinese) – 1,400 calories per serving   Lasagne (Italian) – 1,059 calories per serving   Steak and Kidney Pie (British) – 1,037 calories per serving   Pizza (Italian) – 919 calories per serving   Cheese Nachos (Mexican) – 847 calories per serving   Burger and Chips (American) – 825 calories ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/top-10-highest-calorie-meals-in-the-uk/ Eight new centres aimed at training school cooks in preparing healthy meals are scheduled to open across England by March next year. Areas such as Doncaster, Manchester, Lancashire and Worcester are set to benefit from the new facilities.   The School Food Trust said that Feast (Food Excellence and Skills Training) centres ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/new-training-centres-for-school-cooks/ Children’s secretary Ed Balls has called on schools to toughen up on nearby junk food temptations. Mr Balls said that there is no point banning junk food in schools if teenagers can go to local unhealthy fast food shops which are cheaper than the school canteen, according to The Times ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/schools-should-ban-junk-food-temptation/ A new report from the Soil Association and Organix has shown that foods served in children’s nurseries are unhealthy, processed and cheap with over 600,000 children attending these nurseries. The report examines the quality of food given to young children in nurseries across England and Wales. On average, parents pay £159 ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/nurseries-are-spending-25p-per-child-per-day/ The Government has announced £150m for secondary schools to help them to introduce compulsory cookery classes from 2011. The money, which councils will be invited to bid for, is ring-fenced to build food technology teaching areas in the 500 plus school that don’t currently any facilities at all. Another £750,000 is available ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/schools-cookery-classes/ Jamie Oliver's claim that the majority of school kitchens do not have proper facilities because of insufficient funding has been backed by the catering industry. The school dinners campaigner said a "personal survey" had convinced him that kitchens in six out of 10 schools would be condemned if they were not controlled ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/jamie-oliver-school-funding/ Junk food is already banned from school canteens and vending machines – but the new standards specify the maximum (fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt) and minimum (carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, zinc) nutrient value of an average school lunch. Getting high-quality food into schools is only ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/school-junk-food-problem/ Ensuring our children's lunch boxes stay cool is important to prevent foods warming up and risking your child's safety. Simple steps such as using a cool bag can keep bacteria from multiplying. Food poisoning bacteria multiply fast but they need moisture, food, warmth and time. A warm lunch box left sitting ... http://www.catermap.co.uk/news/keep-your-childs-lunch-box-cool/