Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria
Like the healthy canteen strategies in action in most states across Australia, the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria are based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. These guidelines provide information about the type and quantity of food children need for healthy growth and development.
The NSW Fresh Tastes @ School Healthy School Canteen Strategy, along with other state healthy canteen strategies have set specific nutrient criteria for RED or ‘Occasional’ foods and drinks. Using the Canteen Menu Planning Guide Ready Reckoner, the strategies provide general advice on which foods and drinks are Green and Amber.
Click here for more information on the Fresh Tastes Strategy
Using the state healthy school canteen strategy information as a basis, Healthy Kids have developed specific Green and Amber Nutrient Criteria for 53 different food categories. The characteristics of each food and drink category such as the key nutrients provided have been considered in the development of the criteria. eg Healthy Kids requires registered dairy products to have a minimum amount of calcium per serve.
In some instances the Healthy Kids criteria for hot foods, snacks and drinks may be stricter than the Fresh Tastes Strategy 'Occasional' criteria meaning registered products will have even less saturated fat, energy or sodium or more fibre. The Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria for some categories, such as luncheon meats and cheese, requires registered products to be lower in sodium and saturated fat while some products such as savoury snacks need to be higher in fibre.
There are some categories of foods and drinks that Healthy Kids does not register, such as artificially sweetened soft drinks, fruit juice drinks and iceblocks as there are more nutritious choices available. This means there will be a number of products in the marketplace that will meet state healthy school canteen guidelines and can be sold in school canteens but will not meet the stricter Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria and are not able to be registered as Healthy Kids Products.
Contact Healthy Kids for information on specific nutrient criteria.
The Healthy Kids Registered Product Logo
The Healthy Kids Registered Product Logo is a well recognised symbol that shows that a product has met the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria and is an actively Registered Product.
Schools can be assured that all Registered Products have been carefully assessed by the Association’s Dietitians and Nutritionists, meet the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria, and are better choices for school canteen menus.
The logo can be found on promotional literature such as brochures, point-of-sale and advertisements, subject to a signed licence deed agreement.
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