Sunday, September 16, 2012

Take a Lesson from Abu Dhabi Schools


Winning a big thumbs-up from me, this week, is the Abu Dhabi Education Council. They've cleaned up their school food program, chosen new food suppliers, mandated nutritional values for student food, and have nixed processed meats from burgers to shawarma, banned soft drinks, sweets, and fried potatoes. They're now encoraging fruit, veggies, low-fat milk and iron-fortified cereals while limiting the portion size of pastries, pies, rice, and noodles.

With some time and Googling, I located the new School Canteen Guideline document for Abu Dhabi schools. It goes into great detail about the food safety and prep-area requirements. All fantastic and very specific. Then it gets to my favorite part...the menu guidelines. It looks great! There is some concern that the pies, even size-reduced, will still dominate and veggies will fall by the wayside. But let's give them a pat on the back and help cheer them on to sticking to their new guidelines and adding a lot of real food choices to their kids' days. Well done, Abu Dhabi!

Breakfast:
Cereal (no artificial colors)
Bread (whole grain, white, or brown)
Fruit stuffed pie (<52g)
Dates and Fruits
Milk, yogurt, cheese, and soya products (low-fat, no artificial coloring or flavors)
Eggs (allergy-aware handling)
Jam
Muffins, plain biscuits, or date biscuits
Fruit Juice (with specified minimum juice/pulp %)

Lunch:
Boiled or Oven baked Potatoes, Corn, Legumes, Bread (whole grain, white, or brown)
Garlic Bread (<28g)
Rice, Noodles, and Pasta (<220ml, MSG-free)
Pies and Manakeesh (<52g)
Vegetables, Salads (dressing separate and only lemon, vinegar, and olive oil)
Lean grilled/boiled meats (chicken, kabab, kofta)
Grilled fish (allergy-aware handling)
Popcorn (butter-free)
Bottled water

1 comment:

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