Three in four secondary school menus do not comply with current 2014 school food standards, as parents urge for proper monitoring and enforcement, new research shows.
According to analysis of almost 400 publicly accessible secondary school meals by youth-led campaign group Bite Back, 76% contained an identifiable violation of the standards.
The report found repeated violation examples of unhealthy options being offered during breakfast and break times, including crisps and branded confectionery.
More than half (57%) provided meat products such as burgers, nuggets, sausages and goujons more often than the twice a week permitted by the standards. Hash browns, which as a fried starchy food should be a menu option only twice a week, were being offered more often than that at 37% of schools.
Of the menus where no violation was identified, almost none included their break menu options, which Bite Back said usually account for most other menu violations and suggests that the true scale of the problem may be greater than the publicly available documents reveal.
Bite Back CEO D’Arcy Williams described the findings as “very alarming”, adding that they “expose a system that is fundamentally failing our children”.
“Young people have been telling us for years that their school food is ‘beige, bland and boring’ and now we have more evidence that they are being surrounded by unhealthy food throughout the school day. Schools should be a sanctuary for health and learning, yet the current postcode lottery of food quality is undermining that mission.”
In April, the government unveiled plans to overhaul the school food standards. Under current proposals, of which the final details are due to be published in September, schools will no longer be able to offer unhealthy ‘grab and go’ options such as sausage rolls and pizza every day, while deep-fried food will be banned completely.
Fruit will need to be served instead of “sugar-laden treats” for the majority of the school week, while fruit juice could be taken off the menu and squash could be banned entirely in primary schools.
Now, separate polling of over 1,000 parents across England by Public First, on behalf of the School Food Review, found 72% support government measures to implement checks that ensure the incoming updated standards are being followed.
School Food Matters CEO Stephanie Slater said the changes to the standards provide a “once in a generation opportunity to raise the quality of school food for every child”. However, she has warned that standards without a “robust compliance framework” will “miss the opportunity”.
“Parents want to know their children are actually receiving the nutritious meals they need to thrive at school and that can only happen through a combination of collaborative efforts from school leaders, the Food Standards Agency, and Ofsted.”
Parents also expressed support for the government to go further on expanding access to free school meals, with 80% supporting the extension of provision to every primary school child, while 78% supported extending it to all children across primary and secondary schools.
In June 2025, the government unveiled plans to extend free school meals to every child from a household in receipt of universal credit from September 2026, a move it said will reach over half a million more children and lift 100,000 out of poverty.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “We want every child to be healthy, happy and ready to learn, and nutritious food plays a vital role in helping them achieve that.
“That’s why we are delivering the most ambitious overhaul of school food in a generation, making sure children have access to healthy, balanced meals, get more of their 5 a day and are protected from the harms of eating too much ultra-processed food.
“We know not every school is following these standards, which is exactly why we will introduce a strengthened enforcement regime, alongside requiring every school to publish their food policy and menus online to improve transparency for parents.”
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