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Food and Drink

 

Healthy food

 

Policy statement

Our provision regards snack times as an important part of our day. Eating represents a social time for children and adults and helps children to learn about healthy eating. At snack and meal times, we aim to provide nutritious snacks, which meets the children's individual dietary needs.

Procedures

We follow these procedures to promote healthy eating in our setting.

  • Before a child starts to attend the setting, we ask their parents about their dietary needs and preferences, including any allergies.
  • We record information about each child's dietary needs in the Registration Form and parents sign the form to signify that it is correct.
  • We regularly consult with parents to ensure that our records of their children's dietary needs – including any allergies - are up-to-date. Parents sign the up-dated record to signify that it is correct.
  • We display current information about individual children's dietary needs so that all staff and volunteers are fully informed about them.
  • We implement systems to ensure that children receive only food and drink that is consistent with their dietary needs and preferences, as well as their parents' wishes.
  • We display the menu of snacks including their allergens for parents to view.
  • We provide nutritious food for all snacks, avoiding large quantities of saturated fat, sugar and salt and artificial additives, preservatives and colourings.
  • We include a variety of foods from the four main food groups:
  • dairy foods;
  • grains, cereals and starch vegetables; and
  • fruit and vegetables.
  • We include cultural foods where possible to our snack menu.
  • We take care not to provide food containing nuts or nut products and are especially vigilant where we have a child who has a known allergy to nuts.
  • Through discussion with parents and research reading by staff, we obtain information about the dietary rules of the religious groups to which children and their parents belong, and of vegetarians and vegans, as well as about food allergies. We take account of this information in the provision of food and drinks.
  • We require staff to show sensitivity in providing for children's diets and allergies. Staff do not use a child's diet or allergy as a label for the child, or make a child feel singled out because of her/his diet or allergy.
  • We organise snack times so that they are social occasions in which children and staff participate.
  • We use snack times to help children to develop independence through making choices, serving food and drink and feeding themselves.
  • We provide children with utensils that are appropriate for their ages and stages of development and that take account of the eating practices in their cultures.
  • We have fresh drinking water constantly available for the children. We inform the children about how to obtain the water and that they can ask for water at any time during the day.
  • We inform parents who provide food for their children about the storage facilities available in the setting.
  • In order to protect children with food allergies, we discourage children from sharing and swapping their food with one another.

Packed lunches

We:

  • ensure perishable contents of packed lunches are refrigerated or contain an ice pack to keep food cool;
  • Encourage parents to provide sandwiches with a healthy filling, fruit, and milk based deserts, such as yoghurt or crème fraîche, where we can only provide cold food from home. We discourage sweet drinks and can provide children with water or milk.
  • Discourage packed lunch contents that consist largely of crisps, processed foods, sweet drinks and sweet products such as cakes or biscuits. We reserve the right to return this food to the parent as a last resort;
  • Provide children bringing packed lunches with plates, cups and cutlery; and ensure staff sit with children to eat their lunch so that the mealtime is a social occasion.

Legal framework

Regulation (EC) 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs
 

Food Hygiene

 

Policy statement

We provide and/or serve food for children on the following basis

  • Snacks.
  • Packed lunches. 

We maintain the highest possible food hygiene standards with regard to the purchase, storage, preparation and serving of food.

We are registered as a food provider with the local authority Environmental Health Department 

Procedures

  • The person in charge and the person responsible for food preparation understands the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) as it applies to their business. This is set out in
  • Safer Food, Better Business (Food Standards Agency 2011). The basis for this is risk assessment of the purchase, storage, preparation and serving of food to prevent growth of bacteria and food contamination.
  • All staff follow the guidelines of Safer Food, Better Business.
  • All staff involved in the preparation and handling of food have received training in food hygiene.
  • The person responsible for food preparation and serving carries out daily opening and closing checks on the kitchen to ensure standards are met consistently. (See Safer Food, Better Business.)
  • We use reliable suppliers for the food we purchase.
  • Food is stored at correct temperatures and is checked to ensure it is in-date and not subject to contamination by pests, rodents or mould.
  • Packed lunches are stored in a cool place; un-refrigerated food is served to children within 4 hours of preparation at home.
  • Food preparation areas are cleaned before use as well as after use.
  • There are separate facilities for hand-washing and for washing up.
  • All surfaces are clean and non-porous.
  • All utensils, crockery etc are clean and stored appropriately.
  • Waste food is disposed of daily.
  • Cleaning materials and other dangerous materials are stored out of children's reach.
  • Children do not have unsupervised access to the kitchen.
  • When children take part in cooking activities, they:
  • are supervised at all times;
  • understand the importance of hand washing and simple hygiene rules;
  • are kept away from hot surfaces and hot water; and
  • do not have unsupervised access to electrical equipment, such as blenders etc.

 

Reporting of food poisoning

  • Food poisoning can occur for a number of reasons; not all cases of sickness or diarrhoea are as a result of food poisoning and not all cases of sickness or diarrhoea are reportable.
  • Where children and/or adults have been diagnosed by a GP or hospital doctor to be suffering from food poisoning and where it seems possible that the source of the outbreak is within the setting, the manager will contact the Environmental Health Department to report the outbreak and will comply with any investigation.
  • Any confirmed cases of food poisoning affecting two or more children looked after on the premises are notified to Ofsted as soon as reasonably practicable, and always within 14 days of the incident.

Legal framework

  • Regulation (EC) 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs