Restrictions on School Lunch Service
If elementary, middle and high schools overuse trans-fat, oil, fat and salt, which harm people’s health, and are prosecuted, responsible persons will either have to pay a fine for negligence or receive punishment starting from this year’s new semester.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development stated practical rules for school lunch regulations, a practical revision bill and recently received presidential approval after going through legislative notice. They will be in effect from January 20.
According to the new practical regulations, an elementary school boy in the first to third grades should receive 534 kilocalories, 634 in the fourth to sixth grade, 800 in middle school and 900 kilocalories in high school. An elementary school girl from first to third grades should receive 500 kilocalories, 567 in the fourth to sixth grades, 667 in middle school and 667 kilocalories in high school.
The practical rules are revised for nutritionists to consider five different categories when planning lunch menus. They are based on standards of maintaining nutritional value in schools.
First of all, domestic agricultural products that do not damage the foundation of national consumption and traditional food culture should be continued and developed, based on rice for well balanced nutritional support. Various grocery items including, grains, starch, vegetables, fruits, fish, beans, milk and dairy products should also be included.
What is more, oil, fat, salt, simple sugars and items, including trans-fat and animal fat, that increase obesity, heart disease, arteriosclerosis and diabetes should not be overused for school lunches. If possible, natural and seasonal items are advised to be used making practical use of various cooking methods.
In the lunch regulations, when dieticians plan lunch, they should provide a ratio of energy from carbohydrates, protein and fat at 55 to 70, 2 to 7 and 15 to 30 percent. For each value, there are measures to punish someone who violates the rules by over supplying some particular nutrients.
If trans-fat is too high in some side dishes, which comprise more than fifteen to thirty percent of the total energy on the table, a door is opened for some serious punishment.
Education authorities will conduct regular checks and once a school is prosecuted for violating the standards, the school will receive an order to reform its meals. If the school does not show improvement, school lunch providers will be fined 1,000,000 won and if the number of prosecutions rises, punishment will go up to the sky.
Public servants, including nutritionists, who break the standards for maintaining nutritional value by neglect of duty and mistakes, will be liable.
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 / 입력시간: 2007. 01.20. 08:27
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