Policy statement
We regard snack and meal times as an important part of our day. Eating represents a social time for children and adults and helps children to learn about healthy eating. We promote healthy eating. At snack and meal times, we aim to provide nutritious food, which meets the children's individual dietary needs.
We provide and/or serve food for children on the following basis:
- Snacks.
- Packed lunches (Parents provide)
We maintain the highest possible food hygiene standards with regard to the purchase, storage, preparation and serving of food.
We are registered as a food provider with the local authority Environmental Health Department.
- Current rating of 5
Procedures
We follow these procedures to promote healthy eating in our setting.
- Before a child starts to attend the setting, we ask their parents about their dietary needs and preferences, including any allergies. (See the Managing Children who are Sick, Infectious or with Allergies Policy.)
- We record information about each child's dietary needs in the online Registration Form and parents sign the form to signify that it is correct.
- We regularly consult with parents to ensure that our records of their children's dietary needs – including any allergies - are up-to-date. Parents sign the updated record to signify that it is correct.
- We display current information about individual children's dietary needs so that all our staff and volunteers are fully informed about them.
- We implement systems to ensure that children receive only food and drink that is consistent with their dietary needs and preferences, as well as their parents' wishes.
- We provide nutritious food for snack mainly fresh fruit and occasionally plain biscuits.
- We include foods from the diet of each of the children's cultural backgrounds, providing children with familiar foods and introducing them to new ones.
- We take care not to provide food containing nuts or nut products and we are especially vigilant where we have a child who has a known allergy to nuts.
- Through discussion with parents and research reading, we obtain information about the dietary rules of the religious groups to which children and their parents belong, and of vegetarians and vegans, as well as about food allergies. We take account of this information in the provision of food and drinks.
- We show sensitivity in providing for children's diets and allergies. We do not use a child's diet or allergy as a label for the child, or make a child feel singled out because of her/his diet or allergy.
- We organise meal and snack times so that they are social occasions in which children and adults participate.
- We use meal and snack times to help children to develop independence through making choices, serving food and drink and feeding themselves.
- We ask the children to bring fresh drinking water in bottles which are constantly available for the children.
- We inform parents who provide food for their children about the storage facilities available in our setting.
- We give parents who provide food for their children information about suitable containers for food.
- In order to protect children with food allergies, we discourage children from sharing and swapping their food with one another.
Packed lunches
We cannot provide cooked meals and children are required to bring packed lunches, we:
- We ask parents to contain an ice pack to keep food cool in the pack lunch;
- Inform parents of our policy on healthy eating;
- Encourage parents to provide sandwiches with a healthy filling, fruit, and milk-based deserts, such as yoghurt or crème fraiche, where we can only provide cold food from home. We discourage sweet drinks and can provide children with water;
- Discourage packed lunch contents that consist largely of crisps, processed foods, sweet drinks and sweet products such as cakes or biscuits. We reserve the right to return this food to the parent as a last resort;
- Packed lunches are stored in a cool place; un-refrigerated food is served to children within 4 hours of arrival on premises.
- Make Parents aware that grapes need to be cut up.
- Ensure that adults sit with children at lunch so that the mealtime is a social occasion.
In line with the new and revised EYFS (2021) to help promote good oral health, we will continue to only offer milk and water at snack time. Parents are asked to only put water in their child’s bottles for a drink during the day. No fuzzy drinks or fruit juices are allowed in Pre-School.
In line with healthy drinks we also ask parents to provide a healthy lunch box, with tooth friendly snacks and containing sugar will be restricted and returned home, for example no full sized chocolate bars, however a snack pack of biscuits or cookies will be accepted providing the rest of the lunch box is healthy.
We understand that you may wish to send
in sweet and/or a cake for your child’s birthday. All sweets will be handed out
and sent home. Cake will be served in small pieces after snack or lunch time.
You can ask in advance for numbers in the sessions for that day and we will
also advise you of any dietary requirements.
Our staff will also be following this policy too. They will be offered appropriate training and information about the relevant resources will be available as well.
Our staff with responsibility for food preparation understand the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) as it applies to our setting. This is set out in Safer Food, Better Business for Caterers (Food Standards Agency 2011). The basis for this is risk assessment of the purchase, storage, preparation and serving of food to prevent growth of bacteria and food contamination.
- All our staff follow the guidelines of Safer Food, Better Business.
- All our staff who are involved in the preparation and handling of food have received training in food hygiene.
- The person responsible for food preparation and serving carries out daily opening and closing checks on the kitchen to ensure standards are met consistently. (See Safer Food, Better Business).
- We use reliable suppliers for the food we purchase.
- Food is stored at correct temperatures and is checked to ensure it is in-date and not subject to contamination by pests, rodents or mould.
- Food preparation areas are cleaned before and after use.
- There are separate facilities for hand-washing and for washing-up.
- All surfaces are clean and non-porous.
- All utensils, crockery etc. are clean and stored appropriately.
- Waste food is disposed of daily.
- Cleaning materials and other dangerous materials are stored out of children's reach.
- Children do not have unsupervised access to the kitchen.
- When children take part in cooking activities, they:
- are supervised at all times;
- understand the importance of hand-washing and simple hygiene rules;
- are kept away from hot surfaces and hot water; and
- do not have unsupervised access to electrical equipment, such as blenders etc.
Reporting of food poisoning
Food poisoning can occur for a number of reasons; not all cases of sickness or diarrhoea are as a result of food poisoning and not all cases of sickness or diarrhoea are reportable.
- Where children and/or adults have been diagnosed by a GP or hospital doctor to be suffering from food poisoning and where it seems possible that the source of the outbreak is within our setting, the manager will contact the Environmental Health Department to report the outbreak and will comply with any investigation.
- We notify Ofsted as soon as reasonably practicable of any confirmed cases of food poisoning affecting two or more children looked after on the premises, and always within 14 days of the incident.
Legal framework
- Regulation (EC) 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs.
Further guidance
- Safer Food, Better Business (Food Standards Agency 2011)