NPA says that by showing that the pork and pork products served come from independently audited British pig farms complying with Britain’s higher animal welfare standards, parents, and teachers, can have confidence that what the children are eating is wholesome and safe.

School menus are sent home to parents — so in addition to highlighting the importance of quality in school meals, the Mark is getting considerable exposure, which may impact on parents’ choice when shopping in supermarkets.

The 'Mark-on-Menu' breakthrough is a result of collaboration between UK Food Hall, a specialist supplier of assured British food to schools, and Tony Goodger, foodservice manager at BPEX.

Driving Health

It is part of a drive to get healthy low-fat, low-salt sausages onto school menus. The healthy sausage in the vanguard of this initiative is made by The Welsh Sausage Company and won last year’s BPEX award for best foodservice sausage.

School meals are in decline in many schools because some parents no longer trust the quality of the food being served to their children.

So Tony Goodger suggested to UK Food Hall that it should work with its local authority customers to put the Quality Standard Mark on menus — to demonstrate that the pork and pork products served are not only British, but of the highest quality.

“I have asked UK Food Hall to keep in close touch with the three authorities that have agreed to use the Mark, to find out if there is an increasing uptake,” said Tony.

UK Food Hall was formed specifically to target the school meals market with quality assured British product. Currently, in addition to healthy sausages, it is supplying British gammon from Tulip and loin steaks from Suffolk Meat Traders. A possible future development is to supply collar steaks, which will address any shortage of British loin, and help with carcase balance.