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?

If you look at the pan after frying an egg, it’s still full of oil because eggs don’t absorb the fat. I think sugary foods and UPF’s are the biggest issues for children and for society as a whole. Not the only issues, but the ones that need tackled urgently.

No you’re right we all like different things. But I’ve tried scrambling without oil and I can’t get the texture right at all. I might try again and add chilli and Indian spices though and maybe a drizzle of chilli oil!

This is peak Mumsnet

We sometimes ask our child but he might say chilli, spaghetti Bol, cottage pie etc. what’s wrong with that?

If you trust your child not to demand McDonald’s for tea then nothing wrong with a choice.

That's what I do. I used to add milk because my mother did, but I think she did it to make two eggs go round four of us, to be honest.

You might preferred poached eggs. Some people prefer fried.

When I was at school we were taught how to cook basic nutritional meals from scratch my children have not been taught this by the school they were supposed to make vegetable soup first ingredient tin of vegetable soup sliced bread for croutons basically they taught secondary school children how to open a tin of soup heat it up and make a few croutons then they had to bring it home in a tub

This is not helpful

Yes, there are benefits to eg raw honey that aren't present in granulated sugar but in terms of the effect of the sugar on your body, they are the same. Your body metabolises both as just 'sugar'.

This is the bigger tragedy, those children who have never eaten vegetables at home, if all they know is processed food it’s imperative they get healthy food at school. Lazy parenting, uneducated parenting and ignorant parenting have truly ruined the starts for so many children, it’s terribly depressing.

Don't cook them in oil. Small knob of butter melted in a pan. Add lightly beaten eggs, salt and pepper. Stir gently until 'curds' form. Turn off heat whilst there's still some liquid as they will continue cooking. Serve.

Never use the microwave.

The pudding says must include fruit, the sweet deserts are restricted it’s says 2 maximum a week in secondary and 1 in primary

My teens school serve fried egg and/or sausage toasties at morning break among other things.
They need be eaten on the go, as there’s no option to sit down with a knife and fork to eat boiled, scrambled, poached or any other types of eggs.

Without the fried eggs they’ll be stuck with just the crappy sausages.

This is so true. One of our DC had to make a dip at school. The first ingredient on the shopping list was a jar of mayonnaise, then some cheese. That was it.

The food tech they did wasn't fit for purpose and they only had a few 'lessons'.

Yeah I had a similar upbringing. We just got what we got!

I do have total respect for the fact that a lot of people, adults and children alike, might have a thing or two they just can’t stomach like mushrooms or fish with bones or whatever. But I constantly find myself in the company of kids who will literally only eat their favourite foods and nothing else.

I do ask my child for input into meal planning etc so maybe you’d eye roll a bit with me 😂 but it’s more to get her involved with food and nutrition, there’s no way she’s getting sausage and mash 7 nights a week and it wouldn’t even cross her mind that she could demand this.

We were the same. However, my Mum had it easy because my brother and I would eat absolutely anything. My aunts (one on each side) cooked the same kind of things and were also producing good plain traditional Scottish food. In spite of this each of them had one child who was a very picky eater. The rest of us were baffled by it.

I would say asking your children what they want to eat is all part and parcel of saying things like 'Shall we go to the park now?' instead of 'Right, time to go to the park'. Endless questions and decisions offered, in marked contrast to the old days when parents just told children what to do.

Such a gourmand is our Tarquin, innit?

If you have picky kids they will be picky regardless.

You ever heard that expression you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

That is a picky kid. You can give them healthy food but if they won't eat it....it just becomes a demoralising waste of money, time and effort.

I'm howling at folks getting excited about eggs, the only way to eat them is omelette with plenty ketchup.

Hopefully not cutting good fats from diets of kids (or anyone) seeing that fat is needed for Brain function and Brain Health.
The stuff that needs to be cut is the rubbish oils that are added to so much food. Olive oil, butter and natural fat in milk, cheese and yoghurt your body can actually use is what we need.

The first time I saw an egg being submerged in oil and fried, it really made me feel sick.

It is possible to fry an egg without submerging it in oil, and therefore significantly reduce the oil content. But for some reason, that's not the done thing in this country.

Anyone else really fancy a couple of fried eggs, now?

Supply teacher here(primary): I've walked through scores of breakfast clubs (to get to the classroom) and I have never seen a child eating an egg. Breakfast club are not cafes and rarely have cooking facilities beyond a toaster.

The problem is that the people who come on here saying that their child loves an organic fried egg and organic avocado on home made sourdough are not the people who need these goudelines.

Isn’t it? I’ve never seen a submerged egg!

@ObelixtheGaul me! With lots of black pepper and a slice of wholegrain toast, and a heap of home-grown organic cherry tomatoes. I think that might have to be my lunch.

I’m just pleased that the government has clearly sorted out all the other problems with education (lack of teachers/behaviour/attainment etc) and now have time to turn their attention to how schools should cook eggs and telling them how many grams of ketchup they can serve……