NUTP: Dish out healthy menus only

PETALING JAYA – Food sold in school canteens must be healthy and reasonably priced as it caters to children from different socio-economic backgrounds, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) says.

The risk of food contamination must also be considered when deciding on the menu, cooking methods, storage and handling, said its secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng.

Healthy food need not be expensive, but there are limited choices because certain menus are too costly.

“It is about catering to hundreds of students and the rush during recess time,” she said.

Lok said there were 10,000 schools in the country and there were operators who tended to serve unhealthy food, adding that she also had received feedback that some canteens sold balanced meals at reasonable prices.

“School authorities must monitor the food sold in their canteens regularly,” she said when asked to comment on the Guideline on the Management of School Canteens 2008.

The Star reported yesterday that most of the food sold in school canteens had been listed as unhealthy, apart from contributing to obesity among children in the country.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said most of the food was fried and did not meet the ministry’s guidelines.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong urged the operators to follow the guidelines although it was not mandatory. National Heart Institute chief dietician Mary Easaw-John said frying was easier than baking and grilling, adding that children liked fried food because they were crispy and more tasty.

A small budget and limited facilities for food preparation were also reasons why the operators resorted to fried food, she added.

A secondary school teacher in Kuala Lumpur said the operator in her school had been caught using recycled oil for frying and artificial flavourings.

The teacher said one operator who sold artificially flavoured and coloured drinks had claimed the children loved such drinks.

She said the operator protested when the school’s parent-teacher association sponsored a few units of water dispensers for the children, claiming this had affected his business badly.


Source: The Star