It also warns for the consequences of having only plain milk included in the scheme, and no other dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.
With the announcement of the new School Food Scheme, the European Commission has underlined the importance of a balanced diet and of the benefits of milk consumption for children.
The Commission refocuses the School Food Scheme towards its long-term objectives: ensuring the consumption of milk, fruits and vegetables; tackling obesity; and educating on a variety of agricultural products. Retaining the new framework solution means also opting for a harmonization of previously separate schemes, and for a major administrative simplification.
The Commission’s proposal focuses on two core products: fresh fruit and vegetables on the one hand, consumption milk on the other. Other dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt are not included. These and other categories of dairy/agricultural products can however be supported at Member State level through educational measures, but this will be subject to the approval of the national health authorities. The fixed budget for the milk scheme is an €80m envelope for milk with the possibility of transfers between the fruit and vegetable envelope.
“Although we are pleased with the Commission’s proposal, we believe that excluding dairy products such as cheese and yogurt from the basic framework, will raise concerns in a number of Member States,” said Alexander Anton, secretary general of EDA. “In some countries dairy is mainly consumed in the form of cheese and yogurt, also at school level. These are dietary habits based on local culture which are hard to change. It’s a pity that the Commission did not take this into account when drafting its proposal. We fear that the current proposal will not be welcomed everywhere and will therefore lose its efficiency in some European regions. It is obvious that the Commission gives more flexibility at Member State level to fashion the scheme to adapt it to the specific eating habits of the children, but there is a risk that national health authorities only look at a few single nutrients, and not the balanced and healthy total nutrient composition of dairy products, which is – at the end – what counts!
“That milk consumption is of utter importance for children is obvious”, Anton continued. “I like to quote Sir Winston Churchill in this respect when he said that there is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies. He is certainly right: milk and dairy nutrients are essential for children’s health. Even in the EU many children fail to meet the dietary recommendations for dairy intake and hence nutrient requirement. A daily dairy portion in school is therefore the right, nutritious option to get through the long school day,” Anton concluded.
Source: The European Dairy Association
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024