Meat in school, hospital and public sector catering

Schools, hospitals and government canteens feed a great many people every day. The meat they buy has to meet written public standards. Some of those standards are law, and others come into a catering contract when it goes out to tender.

The Government Buying Standard for food

Defra publishes the Government Buying Standard for food and catering services. Central government buyers, and the caterers working for them, are required to apply it. Defra encourages the rest of the public sector to follow it too.

It sets minimum standards that buyers write into tender specifications and contract conditions. It also sets best practice standards. Defra recommends those, and buyers choose whether to use them. Defra last updated it on 18 August 2021.

What the standard asks of meat

All food served has to be produced to UK legal standards for food production and animal welfare, or to equivalent standards. Broiler chicken, pork and pork products have to meet UK welfare standards, as set out in the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007.

Caterers show the origin of meat and meat products on the menu or in the literature that goes with it. Where that is not practical, they give the information on request.

At least 75% of meat products bought, by volume, have to meet the current salt targets. Caterers buy meat and meat products lower in saturated fat, where they are available.

School lunches in England

The Department for Education (DfE) says the school food standards are a legal requirement for state-funded schools. They are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014.

At lunch, a school serves a portion of meat or poultry on three or more days each week. A meat or poultry product, bought in or made in the kitchen, can appear no more than once a week in a primary school. In a secondary school the limit is twice a week. Both limits count across the whole school day.

DfE's guidance also encourages a meat-free day each week, using pulses, soya, tofu or mycoprotein.

Changes from September 2027

DfE says updated school food standards will take effect from September 2027, subject to Parliament's approval. In its response to the consultation, the government kept the rule of a portion of meat, poultry or pulses on three or more days each week.

Processed meat will be dropped from primary school breakfasts. A secondary school may serve it once a week, either at breakfast or at another point in the school day. Pastry, breadcrumb-coated foods and processed meats will share a limit of two portions a week.

DfE asks schools to talk the changes through with their catering provider. It also asks them to review menus, contracts and buying arrangements.

Hospitals

NHS England published the National standards for healthcare food and drink in 2022. For food sold to staff and visitors, it says organisations must put the Government Buying Standard's nutrition standards into practice.

For patients, the standards say menus should follow the Nutrition and Hydration Digest. Those patient standards take priority over the Government Buying Standard.

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