Leveraging Central Kitchen Model to Raise Whole Grain and Whole Food Content in School Meals

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Hamid Razak, West Coast-Jurong West GRC

Questions

To ask the Minister for Education with the growing adoption of the central kitchen model for school meal provision (a) whether the Ministry intends to leverage this centralised structure to raise whole grain and whole food content in school menus; and (b) whether standardised nutritional benchmarks will be set for central kitchen operators beyond current requirements.

Response

1.The Individual Stallholder System remains MOE’s primary and predominant operating model for school canteens. The Central Kitchen Meal Model (CKMM) is an alternative for schools that face difficulties securing sufficient stallholders, so as to ensure that their students continue to have access to healthy and affordable meals.

2.All meals served in schools, whether provided by individual stallholders or central kitchen operators, must comply with the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) guidelines under the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme. These guidelines require a balanced diet covering the main food groups and include requirements relating to wholegrains and whole foods. MOE does not intend to set separate nutritional benchmarks for central kitchen operators. We will continue to work with all stallholders and central kitchen operators to provide healthy meals to students.