Can school's ban certain foods?

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Can a school actually ban children from bringing in Chocolate, cake, crisps, sweets etc?

I understand nuts being requested to not be brought in but still I'm unsure if this can be enforced?

I can understand banning nuts for allergy reasons, chocolate because of the potential mess if it melts, and fizzy drinks because there are so many better options. Sweets/candy also as they aren't really necessary.

If DD's school started banning cake, crisps and biscuits though I'd object as it doesn't leave you many options when you are running out of stuff at home, and school dinners often come with chips and/or a sweet dessert. Luckily they are quite sensible and don't mind the sandwich, drink, fruit, crisps/biscuit lunchbox.

I try and vary things - last week DD had things like tortilla, falafel, cooled cooked sausages chopped up, mini chicken kofte kebabs instead of sandwiches, but sometimes it's good to be able to reach for something more simple!

Instead of wasting your time on here, posting and not returning, why not go into the school, tell them what you wish to put in your child's lunchbox and ask if it's permitted.

Yes they can enforce it as it will be removed from your child which is not very nice for them when it cam be avoided.
In my experience no chocolate generally means no sweet type chocolate bars, like mars bars, buttons, smarties etc but things like kits kats, penguins are allowed. I'm not sure if others ban chocolate completely?

What can the school do if I don't choose to follow their requests? Isn't it our choice as parents to give our kids what we want them to eat?

If the school was specifying one brand of this and one brand of that and requiring that the children only have that specific thing for lunches, I would say you are not being unreasonable for asking this.

But that's not what they're specifying, and you are being unreasonable. They are likely under pressure from the government and local authorities to implement healthy eating initiatives. I know in this country, childhood obesity is on the rise and myriad illnesses, many of them long term and life-limiting, (or at least quality-of-life-limiting), stem from obesity which can be linked to poor nutritional choices. Not only that, but multiple studies have been conducted that have concluded there is a quantifiable link between nutritional choices and academic performance: put simply, children who eat crap, tend to give crap performances academically. Children whose parents make good nutritional choices for them tend to outperform those whose parents don't.

To sum up: the healthy eating initiative is a) to boost your child's health, b) to boost your child's academic performance, and c) may well be due to pressure from outside authorities.

But you're right. You're the parent. How very dare the school be concerned about your child's physical, intellectual, and emotional well being?

Succinctly, YABU. If you want to fill your child with sugary processed crap, do it on your own time.

What can the school do if I don't choose to follow their requests? Isn't it our choice as parents to give our kids what we want them to eat?

Of course the school can decide what is and is not allowed on its own premises. If you don't choose to follow their requests, they would be entitled to remove the offending items and return them at the end of the school day. Ultimately, they could remove your child child from the roll.

You have two other meals a day to stuff your child with cake, crisps and chocolate if you want. Why not just given them those for breakfast if you feel they need them?

Bananas, whether a child has parents or not they must have a legal guardian, that personal is responsible for ensuring their basic needs are met. To be honest I can't really think of many situations where a parent could buy junk but not fruit and veg.
As is said above school lunches are 5/21 meals. Surely they could last those without junk.

I'd comply with the rules as long as they weren't completely ott, unless the school serves sugary puddings as part of the school lunches. In which case I would kick up an almighty fuss.

I also think if kids are eating sugary stuff at lunch time, some kids are bouncing off the walls for afternoon lessons! I know if I gave my son all the things he "likes" as in chocolate, cake etc, he'd quite excitable from the sugar!

I also think if kids are eating sugary stuff at lunch time, some kids are bouncing off the walls for afternoon lessons! I know if I gave my son all the things he "likes" as in chocolate, cake etc, he'd quite excitable from the sugar!

What do you mean don't have that? What a guardian?

The puddings with school meals are generally made to very specific awful tasting low sugar type recipes.

The school meal menus are generally planned over time to provide a balance

So many packed lunches are stuffed full of sugar ladened foods I can understand school having restrictions

No one would leave a child hungry now bananas. Or I certainly hope Not! If their entire lunch was banned products they'd either be allowed it with a word to the parents later on, or provided with a hot dinner, again with a word/call to parents/guardians later on. Consistently bad lunches would be flagged as a safeguarding issue and looked into and treated accordingly.

I work in a Reception class and for the first few weeks of each new school year help out with their lunches, getting them settled and calm. Some of the packed lunches that have been bought in over the years make me wince; 4 year olds cannot possibly need a Grab Bag size of crisps and a Mars Bar. Mini cans of pop, huge slices of cake, packets of Smarties, you name it and we've seen it.

I think schools are damned whatever they do; they're encouraged to promote a healthy-eating policy but the children bringing in junk-filled lunches will likely go home and eat similarly junk-laden diets, but those who bring in a penguin bar and a tortilla wrap with ham salad will eat well everywhere regardless of school policy. You're absolutely right that you can send in whatever you like for a packed lunch. But if you know the school rules on what they will and won't allow for lunches, you either follow the rules (which presumably you signed and agreed to in the home school policy) or you flout the rules and run the risk of your child having items confiscated.