School Canteens Provide Nutritious and Hygienic Meals

We thank Ms Shen Wenfeng for her letter on food nutrition and safety in school canteens (别让食堂餐食毁了孩子健康, 21/11).

The Ministry of Education (MOE) recognises the importance of providing our students with healthy and nutritious meals. MOE works closely with schools to monitor canteen food quality, quantity and prices. Canteen stallholders are required to serve meals that adhere to the Health Promotion Board's Healthy Meals in Schools Programme guidelines, which require a well-balanced diet covering the four main food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables and fruits. Processed foods are not recommended as they typically have high sodium content. Schools may terminate contracts with stallholders who fail to comply with these standards.

Besides charging low rentals between $5 and $15 per month, which are waived during the school holidays, MOE regularly provides pricing guidelines to schools on the range of canteen food prices. This helps to keep canteen food affordable for students, while allowing stallholders to earn adequate income. Our schools work with stallholders to provide sufficient portion sizes and use healthier ingredients, such as brown rice and healthier oils, to meet the nutritional needs of our students, even if this results in slightly higher prices.

Food hygiene is just as critical in ensuring our students' well-being. Stallholders must be licensed by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), and their food handlers must be trained and registered before they are allowed to prepare food and drinks for sale. Schools are also required to maintain their canteens in a clean and hygienic condition, and are subject to food safety inspections by SFA.

MOE will continue to work closely with schools and the relevant agencies to ensure that students have access to nutritious and healthy meals, so as to support their growth and development.

Mr Ong Chun Kiat
Divisional Director, Infrastructure and Facility Services Division
Ministry of Education

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学校食堂提供营养和卫生餐食

谨答复《联合早报·交流站》于11月21日刊登的沈文凤读者投函《别让食堂餐食毁了孩子健康》：

我们感谢沈女士对学校食堂食品营养和安全的关注。

教育部明白为学生提供健康营养餐食的重要性。教育部与学校紧密合作，监控食堂食品的质量、数量和价格。食堂摊贩必须提供符合保健促进局"学校健康膳食计划"指导方针的餐食，提供涵盖四大类食物的均衡饮食：碳水化合物、蛋白质、蔬菜和水果。计划不推荐加工食品，因为它们通常有较高的钠含量。对于未能遵守这些标准的摊贩，学校可终止合同。

除了每月收取5元至15元的低廉租金（学校假期期间免除租金），教育部定期向学校提供食堂食品价格范围的指南。这有助于学生能够负担得起食堂食品，同时让摊贩获得足够的收入。学校与摊贩合作，提供充足的份量，并使用更健康的食材，如糙米和更健康的食油，以满足学生的营养需求，即便这导致价格略微上涨。

食品卫生对于确保学生的健康同样重要。摊贩必须获得新加坡食品局的执照，摊贩助手必须经过培训和注册，方可经手出售的食品和饮料。学校也必须保持食堂的清洁和卫生，并接受食品局的食品安全检查。

教育部会继续与学校及相关机构紧密合作，确保学生能够获得营养健康的餐食，让他们健康发育成长。

（教育部基础设施与设施服务司统筹司长王俊杰）