The story
- The new School Food Standards, announced by the Department for Education on April 13, 2026, are the first major overhaul in more than a decade. Deep-fried food is banned outright. No exceptions.
- "Grab and go" items like sausage rolls and pizza can no longer appear on the menu daily. Sweet desserts — cake, ice cream, waffles — are limited to once a week, and even then the dessert has to be at least 50% fruit.
- The replacement menu released by government reads like a parenting magazine: spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie with root-veg mash, jerk chicken with rice and peas, roasted chickpea wraps. Which, given that one in three English children leaves primary school overweight or obese, is roughly the point.
- A government poll found three out of four parents thought the change was overdue. Half said they didn't get enough information about what their kids were being served at all.
- The standards take effect in September 2027, after a nine-week consultation period closing June 12, 2026. Each school will be required to appoint a "lead governor" responsible for food and to publish menus online.
- Tooth decay from high-sugar diets is currently the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged five to nine in England. That is the kind of statistic that makes a sausage roll start to look different.
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Every child deserves to have delicious, nutritious food at school that gives them the energy to concentrate, learn and thrive.
— Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary
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