DATA Conference Loughborough 2nd July 2009

Nutrition Program stand at DATA

We had a very busy day at the DATA conference and were able to show teachers how to use the program online. Teachers were very interested in the two latest textbooks, The Food Book and Examining Food and Nutrition which are for sale on our site.

Frequent questions included
1. Where do the prices for the ingredients come from and how often are they updated?
Answer – Sainsburys website and then others if the foods are not listed there. We update constantly and new foods are being added everyday. Angela, who is from a school on Guernsey, has to alter the prices as the cost of food is more on the island.
2. How can I design a lunch for a particular age group?
Answer – Put the data into the diet section when you have chosen the foods to use, but we will be working on this in the future.
3. Is the label really the same as a food label?
Answer – Yes, these labels are being used by a small food manufacturer who is constantly changing his specification and needs to show customers what the nutritional value and the allergens are.

Delegates were buzzing with all the valuable presentations that they attended. My friend Dr Marion Rutland was very excited about a recent conference she had attended on nanofoods at Leatherhead Food Research so no doubt more information will appear on that soon.

Harnessing Technology Grant

E learning credits have been replaced with the Harnessing Technology Grant. Total funding available 2008-2011: £639.5 million (£237.5m in 2008-09, £201m in each of financial years 2009-10, 2010-11). The Government is investing £21.7 billion in schools capital and ICT between 2008 and 2011.

Every school, local authority and diocese in the country will receive resources through a range of programmes.

This is the statement from the Grant document:

“The Harnessing Technology Grant can be used to pay for subscription services, but only if the terms and conditions of the service mean that either the assets being paid for (or a perpetual licence to use those assets) pass into the ownership of the school or local authority at the end of the service period; or the school or local authority receives a licence to use the digital curriculum materials for a specified time period which is longer than one year.”

The Nutrition Program can be bought with this grant as it meets the criteria which are below. You can extend the subscription to 2 years.

Further details can be found here and here

NMEs Non Milk Extrinsic Sugars

We had this question from a user of the program.

Does the Nutrition Program list the NMEs?  The answer is no, not yet, but it is in the pipeline.

Sugars are classified as intrinsic -contained in the cell walls of the food, or extrinsic – not in the cell structure. Non milk extrinsic sugars include table sugar, honey, glucose and glucose syrups, sugars added to food and sugars in fruit juices. They are thought to be a large contributor to dental caries.

The Food Standards Agency has also said ’sugars naturally present in fruit that are canned, stewed, dried or used in preserves are taken as half extrinisic and half intrinsic.

Breakfast cereals present a challenge as there is no agreed method for estimating the proportion of NMEs in these foods.

To work out the NMEs in a food product, the easiest way is to start with the basic recipe. This is something that we will be looking at in the future.

The food standards agency has data about NMEs which can be used to estimate NMEs in dietary surveys.

Avoiding the Spring time blues through healthy eating…

Dont miss todays article on the Times website about “how to eat to beat the blues and get ready for spring.

You can find it here.

£21 million funding for the School Food Trust

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in England has announced £21 million funding for the School Food Trust over the next three years. The aim is to drive up the quality of school food and increase take up of meals through better education for parents, children and young people. A further £2 million capital investment has been announced for the Trust to expand the School FEAST network of training centres for the school food workforce. The cash will be invested in new training facilities to equip staff with the skills they need to produce healthy, tasty food. The School Food Trust has been placed by the government at the forefront of improving take up of school dinners. This funding settlement is on top of the £627 million ringfenced funding for school food since 2005.
The School Food Trust (SFT) is a non-departmental public body established by the DCSF in September 2005. Its remit is to transform school food and food skills, and promote the education and health of children and young people by improving the quality of food supplied and consumed in school. Visit http://www.schoolfeast.co.uk to find out more.

Use the Nutrition Program to work out how healthy your school lunch is. It should provide 33% of your daily nutrients.