Nursery Menu Standards
Menu standards for nurseries, recommended by the School Food Trust can be separated into two main categories:
- FOOD AND DRINK GUIDELINES:
These define the fundamental principals of nursery menu planning. They ensure that the menu has the correct structure and that appropriate foods and recipe choices are served throughout the day.
A menu that meets these standards will go a long way to ensuring that the nutritional
needs of nursery children are met. The food and drink guidelines specify how often, how much and which types of food should be provided to the under-5’s. It also lists foods and ingredients that need to be limited or avoided. They have been set for the menu as a whole and for individual meals ie. Breakfast, lunch, tea, snacks and drinks.
Menu Matters can help
To have your menu checked, send it to Menu Matters, we will review it against the recommended structure and advise whether any changes are needed.
- THE NUTRIENT FRAMEWORK
In addition to all the points above, the nutrient framework define the levels of 12 different nutrients that children should gain from their nursery food. A menu that meets the Food and Drink Guidelines should meet the nutrient levels specified. The levels of
particular nutrients in a menu are obtained by undertaking a nutritional analysis.
A nursery menu that meets the Nutrient Framework and the Food and Drink Guidelines provides a guarantee that the
nutritional needs of this age group are fully met.
Menu Matters can help
We will analyse your menus and recipes against the standards, and then work with you to implement any changes required to guarantee that the standards are met.
The graph below demonstrates a menu that fully meets the nutritional guidelines:
A menu that is compliant to the Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) Nutrient based standards
for under-5s in childcare will meet the nutritional needs of this age group.
Contact Us:
Send us your Menus and recipes and we will review them against the nutritional guidelines for nursery food. We can advise of any changes that you need to make to be able to ensure that your menus meet the guidelines or design a menu for you from scratch
Effective menu planning, and the use of correct ingredients can reduce costs.
In a recent study undertaken by Menu Matters a 3 week menu cycle was created to meet the guidelines: The average ingredient costs were £1.34 per day per child, based on average supermarket prices (22/11/10)
A nursery menu was developed to provide the following:
- A 3 WEEK AUTUMN/ WINTER MENU that adopts the guidance for the under 5’s in childcare, set by the Caroline Walker Trust (CWT)
- RECIPES THAT ARE SIMPLE TO PREPARE, from ingredients readily available in Supermarkets.
- There are a wide variety of dishses, with key nutrients being supplied through numerous different ingredient sources that are likely to appeal to children. It has meat, fish and vegetarian choices, with cultural dishes along side established favourites and regional specialities.
- Preparation and cooking requirement for tea and snack recipes has been kept to a minimum where time and resource may be an issue.
- A SHOPPING LIST was provided for each weekly menu, to use as a guide for buying ingredients.