To think banning fried eggs is a step too far?

[NameChanger2026]

Whilst I agree with most of this, what’s wrong with an egg in decent oil?

I agree in principle but unless school meals are compulsory that isn't what will happen. Remember the mothers standing at the school railings passing burgers through to the teenagers refusing to eat Jamie Oliver's healthy school meals?

Schools won't be frying eggs in macadamia oil 😂It will be cheap vegetable oil.

But we produce the food in a way now that has deprived it of nutrients and is processed to make it highly palatable and addictive.
Obviously if you never get addicted to the bad stuff, you won't have problems later in life.

The problem is that for many families, balance has gone out the window and schools should be setting an example.

My child’s school menu (5 years old) was sent to us and boasts of brand name
processed shite, Birds Eye, quorn etc…

There is a pudding option 5 days a week.
Sausage rolls, pies or sandwiches.

School menus are old fashioned.

To those saying schools don't serve eggs.... ours do an all day breakfast (for lunch) once every 3 weeks. And yes, they include an egg!

Eggs are one of the best foods out there.

Crazy guidance.

Humans have been eating foods containing starch and sugar for hundreds of thousands of years.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g We haven't been eating modern UPF's for hundreds of thousands of years. There is a difference.

I could be wrong, of course, but I would assume that a family eating mostly fish fingers, chicken nuggets, frozen pizza and ready meals would not be all that likely to have a veg box delivered. Why would you go to the trouble of getting a range of interesting vegetables like that and serve them alongside highly processed convenience food?

good thing breakfast isn’t the only meal I eat!

Caterers can buy in ready-poached eggs and re-heat them. I find this idea absolutely horrific, but I gather that most restaurants and cafes offering poached eggs are not poaching them fresh to order. It means they have been sitting in a plastic pouch until required, so adds to the already vast amount of plastic waste we produce in this country.

If schools are going to offer eggs, the obvious thing is to have something like a frittata or crustless quiche with some vegetables in it and maybe a bit of cheese or ham (although I suppose ham is now on the banned/restricted list too). Very tasty, easy to produce in advance and portion up, nice at room temperature.

Yes, I know that. However, plain Shredded Wheat is not a UPF as all it contains is wheat. Weetabix apparently is technically a UPF as it contains malted barley extract and is fortified, but it's not sweetened. These two and most types of muesli and porage oats are sensible nutritious options for breakfast.

Completely agree. I’ve visited Norway a few times for work and the contrast in what was offered in the work canteen compared to British work canteens was incredible.

I think we lack imagination in this country and with people from all types of heritage how amazing it could be to make breakfast foods interesting as well as healthy.

Definitely more should be spent on decent main course ingredients and I’d make pudding some kind of Greek yoghurt plus - fruit, seeds, nuts. Where schools could accommodate a kitchen go back to that and design use of the space into the curriculum yes bring back home economics and cookery! I don’t think any food should be banned, it’s just how it is used and total nutrient dense calories.

As for the fried egg. Well I’m currently in a calorie deficit with protein and fibre count and I’ve discovered savoury oats (cheap, quick and easy) topped with three (gasp!!!) fried eggs. I use a non stick pan that doesn’t get too hot and about 5 cals of 1 cal. Masses of black pepper. It’s amazing.

Breakfast things like shakshuka (sorry if spelt wrong), mixed tomato beans with eggs dropped in, those kinds of things. Or oats and Greek yoghurt baked items with fruit and a few seeds. There’s loads of interesting nutritional stuff no need for what we seem to assume breakfast should be.

I can’t do scrambled eggs to taste half decent without butter unfortunately so avoid those (as I do in mass produced hotels of whatever they are never appealing).

I also haven’t heard of Burford Browns! I used to keep chickens god I miss their eggs now! Best in my flock were the Marans and Orpingtons!

I’d say it’s about forming better habits than actually these particular foods being a complete no no. I’m always horrified that my daughter gets offered dessert every day, it really goes against the routine we’re trying to create at home.

As a country we have such a shocking relationship with food I’m grateful the government are trying to do something. I do wonder how much permissive parenting has to do with poor eating habits. I’d say more than 50% of kids I know will only eat very specific and limited foods (non arfid, and statistically I think very unlikely they’re all ND) and of course they won’t eat the soup when they know they can hold out for something better.

There’s a million other ways to cook an egg, so why would a school cook it in the most unhealthy way possible? Makes perfect sense that they would scramble, boil or poach instead.

But that is people with diabetes, it is normal to have spikes if you dont have diabetes with no ill effects, the difference is whether they are short lived acute spikes that dont come down after 2 hours since food. The likes of ZOE was spreading this misinformation so they could sell their diet apps

I was a child in the 60s and 70s and my mum was a great home cook but I never once remember her asking what I would like to eat. She cooked, we sat and ate it. Maybe apart from birthdays. I can’t help overhearing sometimes parents asking their child what they would like for tea.

This seems to match what DS' school already serve tbh, they do have pudding every day but with no added sugar and usually secret veg eg the chocolate cake they all love is made with beetroot. The pasta is whole wheat etc. I don't send him to breakfast club because we don't need it and it is just cereal and toast, he is now in juniors and every classroom has a toaster and they can have a toasted bagel and a piece of fruit while they do their early morning work from 8:35-9 , his school is 38% PP so I guess this is a good way to feed children who aren't brought to breakfast club but might not get a good breakfast at home.

DS had overnight oats this morning with nut butter, banana, greek yoghurt, whole milk, cinnamon and stewed apple and pear (thanks to MILs fruit trees I get a big batch every autumn and stew then with a cinnamon stick and vanilla pod and freeze into cubes) , he will definitely have a bagel and fruit this morning too. He is 9th centile for weight despite eating more than me so I'm glad of it.

Can someone please enlighten me how to scramble an eggs and make it tasty and appetising without a decent amount of butter? Or oil?

Fried egg is better than scrambled as you get less cooking fat in the end dish ?

I really liked the liver that they served at school, as well. The only foods I did not like, and would struggle to eat, were the greens, broad beans, and prunes. I love greens now, but as a child, they tasted very bitter.

Some children are just picky.

Even when everyone else is eating a home made healthy dinner, with a bit of sause and veg all they want is essentially dry food, plain pasta, burgers, steak, chicken, sausage, nuggets. Note the lack of veg in there. And no where to hide it.
It just becomes hard.

They'll do crunchy yougart but never fruit ones. And refused all baby food, purees, mince and mash.

Won't touch school dinners other than fish day.

I wonder if it's a geographical thing.

Very few kids around here that are noticeably overweight and lots of very worrying competitive undereating in the high school girls from a young age. Much of it for show with healthy, very slim girls who clearly eat more than they say they do, but some listen and become underweight and unwell.

Even DDs normally sensible friend group were influenced by it on their last school trip with all except one having an empty bread roll for lunch. Weirdly the girl who was loudest with the competitive undereating on that trip had the worst eating habits at home.

I’m guessing poaching is a little more hassle for a big group of kids.
risk with scrambled or omelette is they might use that awful pre made mix that some buffet breakfast hotels use.
At least with fried you know you’re getting a simple fresh egg and it’s quick and foolproof for the staff.

You can't buy them from the catering service that supplies thousands of schools at the same time. All the food in schools must have a shelf life of 1 year. A bit like food for soldiers in 1ww trenches.
And then no one knows why obesity rates are crazy...

I love scrambled eggs with a bit of salt and a dash of milk… in fact I prefer it to a fried egg.

Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean no one else does?

even less if south have a non-stick pan and a paper towel (or clean cloth).

tiny splash of oil, use cloth to thinly spread the oil around the pan and soak up the excess and crack in egg(s).