{"id":535712,"date":"2026-04-17T09:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/535712\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T09:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:23:08","slug":"no-cheeseburgers-they-would-go-bankrupt-pupils-reject-plan-to-cut-fatty-foods-from-lunch-menus-school-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/535712\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No cheeseburgers \u2026 they would go bankrupt\u2019: pupils reject plan to cut fatty foods from lunch menus | School meals"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is lunchtime at Richard Challoner school, a Catholic comprehensive for boys in New Malden, south-west London<\/a>. The familiar smell of school lunch is beginning to waft around the corridors.<\/p>\n

In the canteen, there is a moment of calm as the kitchen team make final preparations before year 7 descend \u2013 a mass of chatting, laughing boys, with backpacks swinging and empty tummies grumbling.<\/p>\n

It all happens so fast. One minute there\u2019s an orderly queue, the next they\u2019ve made their selection, completed payment and are sitting down \u2013 huddled with friends \u2013 to eat. The food vanishes and they\u2019re off.<\/p>\n

In comes the next sitting. Bigger boys with bigger appetites. Wednesday\u2019s menu includes a main meal of sausages (Cumberland pork and Glamorgan vegetarian) plus mashed potato, with caramelised onion gravy, roasted carrots and broccoli.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a pasta dish, chicken meatballs in tomato sauce and jacket potato with baked beans. The \u201cgrab and go\u201d offer includes sausage baps, pepperoni panini, cheeseburger and sweet chilli hash brown. There\u2019s no deep fried food, no chocolate bars, crisps or fizzy drinks. There is however a well-stocked salad bar.<\/p>\n

Under government plans, schools will no longer be able to offer \u2018grab and go\u2019 options like sausage rolls and pizza every day and deep fried food will be banned completely. Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Dessert remains on the menu though \u2013 there\u2019s a luscious display of chocolate mousse, banoffee pie, caramelised banana cake, brownie, marshmallow sponge, summer berry flapjack, iced rolls, cupcakes and double chocolate muffins. Would Henry Dimbleby and Bridget Phillipson<\/a> approve? Maybe not, but they look delicious.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the education secretary revealed plans to overhaul school food standards, as part of efforts to lower rates of childhood obesity. Welcomed by chefs and campaigners including Jamie Oliver<\/a>, Emma Thompson and Dimbleby, a former government food tsar, the plan is to cut out food and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar and replace them with more fruit, vegetables and wholegrains.<\/p>\n

Schools will no longer be able to offer \u201cgrab and go\u201d options like sausage rolls and pizza every day and deep fried food will be banned completely. Sugar-laden cakes and puddings are also under threat, with fruit served for the majority of the week instead.<\/p>\n

Headmaster Sean Maher bristles slightly as I outline some of the government\u2019s proposals, now subject to a nine-week consultation. \u201cI find that so nanny state-ish. Of course it\u2019s our job to provide our students with as healthy and nutritious an offer as we can. But to say to a 12-year-old, \u2018I\u2019m not going to let you have a chocolate brownie after your lovely main meal\u2019 \u2026 I mean, come on!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou put healthy food in front of them, but you\u2019ve also got to let them have play time. Surely they are allowed a little treat as well? And these guys,\u201d \u2013 he gestures to the kitchen staff \u2013\u201chave also got to make money. You\u2019ve got to be sensible about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until recently the school had been doing its own catering, but costs went up and the school went out to tender. Now they use a catering firm called Accent. The head chef Daniel Roche loves his job, he starts at 6am every morning, but says it\u2019s hard making the sums add up.<\/p>\n

Richard Challoner headteacher Sean Maher and chef Daniel Roche. Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the kitchen,\u201d he says. \u201cI love the banter of the staff and \u2013 hopefully \u2013 seeing [the pupils\u2019] happy faces. But if I was to stop everything tomorrow and only put healthy food out, we would be crippled as a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The year 7s, in their first year at Richard Challoner, are still enjoying the choice the secondary school\u2019s canteen gives them. Daniel, 12, is nibbling pizza, followed by flapjack. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say they\u2019re the healthiest, but they are really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

What if pizza disappeared off the menu as part of the DfE cull? \u201cNo pizza?\u201d Daniel reflects for a moment as he continues to munch through his slice. \u201cI would be a bit disappointed \u2026 but there are lots of other good things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theo, also 12, sitting nearby, has opted for sausage and mash with extra salad, followed by a chocolate cup cake. He feels the government cutting back on sugar and cake is \u201ca bit unfair. A bit harsh\u201d. But, he adds, \u201cI like the fact they are trying to make it healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trivin, 11, is eating a burger, alongside Ollie, 12, who has a ham sandwich on white bread, with a cup cake. \u201cI like the cheeseburgers a lot,\u201d says Trivin, between mouthfuls. \u201cThey\u2019re my favourite.\u201d He also likes cucumber and sweetcorn. Carrots are too hard and tomatoes too squishy. Ketchup is delicious.<\/p>\n

Trivin thinks his school \u201cwould go bankrupt\u201d if they dropped cheeseburgers, cakes and pizza. \u201cThe entire place! I think people would get angry about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser, 16, brandishing two pieces of pizza, would be \u201ca bit gutted\u201d if it went off the menu. He doesn\u2019t like brussels sprouts, he\u2019s not big on broccoli, but he does like a sausage roll.<\/p>\n

Ethan, 15, says the food at school is tasty and healthy but the portion sizes are too small. He thinks they should be allowed a sweet treat every day. \u201cThe sugars give you short term energy to get through the rest of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good food,\u201d says Romelle, 16. \u201cIt\u2019s nutritious food. It meets the needs.\u201d He would like more vegetarian options, but he thinks cutting out dessert would make the meals dull. \u201cSweet treats bring a bit of excitement \u2013 especially in the lower years. It\u2019s about keeping a balance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is lunchtime at Richard Challoner school, a Catholic comprehensive for boys in New Malden, south-west London. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-535712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}