School menus are suspended across the board. This is the conclusion reached by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) after analyzing 622 meals from different educational centers. None of them comply with the advice of the document agreed upon by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan), the Ministry of Education and the ministries of Health and Education, they denounce.
These data have been obtained thanks to a survey carried out on parents about what their children eat, which has allowed the OCU to observe that these menus are made up mainly of foods rich in carbohydrates, such as potatoes and rice, and that legumes, eggs and fruit are a minority. "Legumes should be present on the school menu at least 1.5 times a week (6 times a month)," they insisted.
Precooked foods are other foods that are very present in these agapes aimed at children and it is worrying, because in general they are products with a low nutritional quality and that end up replacing other more interesting meals. In this way, the presence of croquettes and dumplings is greater than that of eggs, which should be part of the menu at least once a week.
As for vegetables, although the survey shows that the 2.45 weekly servings almost reach the recommended minimum, the OCU points out that the way of preparing the dishes "is not ideal" because only 11 percent of the menus contain them. whole cuisine, most are presented in puree or in salads as a garnish.
These latter ways of serving vegetables, the OCU points out, often cause children to leave food on their plate and regrets that classic vegetable preparations such as green beans, stew or cauliflower are “missing.”
The protein in these menus, on the other hand, comes mostly from meat, along with fish and eggs. "Meat consumption between one and two servings a week is appropriate, but ensuring that sausages (sausages, chorizo, etc.) are only occasionally consumed," the organization says.
As for fish, more white (78%) than blue (22%) is usually served, and the OCU considers that they should be present in equal parts. Egg consumption does not reach the established minimum of once a week, they add.
Although the survey collects testimony from public, private and subsidized centers, there are no differences in quality depending on the type or price of the menu, but rather depending on where they are cooked: the further away they are cooked, the less balanced they are. .
55 percent of the menus that come from an external company in the hot line are “very unbalanced”, 46 percent of the cold line (packaged and refrigerated to be heated later in the dining room) are “very unbalanced”, but when cooking in the center, the figure drops to 39 percent.
