CBSE asks schools to ensure fast food items are not available in the canteen

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked all its affiliated schools to ensure that food items like chips, carbonated drinks, ready- to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers and confectionery items like chocolates, candies are not available in the school canteens.

The Board has advised all schools affiliated to it to try that no such food items are available around 200 meters of the school premises. In a Circular to all affiliated schools, the CBSE has written that consumption of food high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) has been found to be associated with many diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and others. Referring to a Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry report, CBSE secretary Joseph Emmanuel said that it provides insights on how to control the endemic problem of consumption of junk food available in and around schools.

The senior CBSE official said that many recommendations made in the report have a direct bearing on schools and suggested they ensure that there is no HFSS foods such as chips, fried foods, carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers, potato fries and confectionery items, chocolates, candies, samosas, bread pakoras, etc available in their canteens.

So far as possible in their capacity, schools are also urged to take the possible necessary steps to ensure non-availability of HFSS around 200 meters of the school, the CBSE letter added. It said that schools should constitute 'School Canteen Management Committee' having about 7 to 10 members including teachers, parents, students and school canteen operators to implement and monitor the guidelines to make safe food available to students in the school.