Butter chicken lunch from Lincoln Heights school (left) and chicken teriyaki lunch at Massey Primary School. Photo: RNZ / Louise Ternouth
The amount of coconut cream allowed in a curry, the questionable categorisation of potato as a salad vegetable, and the wildly varying results of taste tests are among matters covered by school lunch scheme documents obtained under the Official Information Act.
The documents provided insight into meal development by the School Lunch Collective last year and earlier this year as it prepared to take over the contract for feeding students at about 440 schools.
They included Education Ministry assessment of the nutritional value of the meals and accompanying side snacks, ministry emails to staff at Compass, the company leading the School Lunch Collective, and the results of taste testing of three meals last year.
They showed that curries should not have more than 15ml (about one tablespoon) of coconut cream per serving and soy sauce in a teriyaki meal should not exceed half-a-teaspoon.
They also showed that children's reactions varied enormously with one child describing a meal as "five star", but another in the same class writing "taste bad and looks bad and smell is bad" about the same meal.
The documents included advice from the now-defunct food preparation company Libelle on how schools could increase children's uptake of the meals.
It suggested withholding treats until after lunch, serving meals at the first break of the day rather than waiting until lunch time, and providing condiments such as tomato sauce.
It also suggested serving food buffet style so children could choose, changing lunch orders on an online portal to avoid unpopular meals, and "the five senses initiative" which asked children to consider their meal and note their observations on a brightly-colour checklist.
Advice from food preparation company Libelle told schools how they could increase children's uptake of the provided meals. Photo: Screenshot / Compass Group
The taste tests
The documents inluded results from taste tests last year of three meals with children in different schools.
In February last year a taste testing of a beef curry and rice meal across a number of schools and classrooms resulted in comments ranging from "meat is amazing" and "liked everything about the meal" to "too bland" and "didn't look appetising".
Multiple comments noted difficulty opening the meal containers and that a hot meal was not appealing on a hot day.
Overall, 13 percent of students did not like the meal, 35 percent were neutral and 53 percent liked or strongly liked it.
"As a result of receiving the above summary feedback, Libelle made changes to the process of cooking the diced meat and started to investigate the claims of difficult to open lids again," the document said.
It showed a macaroni and cheese meal was revised to improve the cheese flavour and hide vegetables following feedback that akonga "do not like vegetables and couldn't taste the cheese flavour".
A test of the revised meal across six schools resulted in 57 percent of pupils giving a positive rating, 21 percent neutral and 23 percent negative.
One school said all children ate the meal and wanted it back on the menu, but another said everyone disliked it: "Their feedback was that it was gluggy. I dissected a meal and it was quite congealed and the pasta did appear overcooked and mushy".
The document showed further investigation revealed the negative feedback was from a school that received the meal several hours before it was consumed and negative opinions about the meal from school staff might have influenced pupil opinions.
Comments about the meal included "I love it, give us more of it please", "it was so cheesey", "looks weird", "smell yuck", "basic and ok".
A trial of beef rissoles across two schools proved the most divisive with 44 percent positive, 24 percent neutral and 32 percent negative.
"It was good but not that good," wrote one student, while another wrote "I like all of it and it was amazing".
"Too much thyme or mixed herbs - it's in everything almost every day," wrote another.
By 22 May last year, Libelle noted that 13 schools had opted to stop receiving the beef rissoles and gravy meal and it was planning to update the meal with a new improved version for the following term.
Documents released under the Official Information Act reveal 13 schools opted to stop receiving a beef rissoles and gravy meal from the school lunch programme. Photo: Screenshot / Compass Group
Coconut cream and soy sauce
Among the released documents was a spreadsheet showing Education Ministry assessments of 24 meals and, for older children, accompanying snacks against nutritional requirements.
It showed an early version of Mac n Cheese failed to make the grade because it was too light, 209 grams instead of at least 240 grams with just 30 percent of the required protein, while a gluten-free version had 99.875 percent of the protein required.
Muesli bars, yoghurt raisins, banana chips and pretzels failed to make the grade as acceptable snacks.
A 12 December 2024 email from the Education Ministry to Compass Group said all main meals for the proposed menu for term 1 2025 had been assessed as meeting nutrition requirements, but two changes were requried for the sides that accompanied lunches for students in Year 9 and above to ensure the total meal met nutritional requirements.
"There are four meals that fall short of meeting nutrition standards, two are within an acceptable margin (Beef Rissoles and Mac n Cheese), however the other two will need to be adjusted to meet nutrition standards. Beef bolognese is 9g below the protein food requirement and Chicken Teriyaki Rice exceeds the amber allowance by 8g," the email said.
The School Lunch Collective said amber ingredients, such as coconut cream, were allowed in meals, but only up to a certain amount.
On 10 January 2025, the ministry emailed Compass Group asking for changes to four meals.
"Butter Chicken: Coconut cream is double the allowed serving size for both age group. Needs to be reduced to 15mls per serve.
"Ham Mac n Cheese: no percentage of cheese in the sauce so can't confirm meets protein requirements.
"Thai Chicken: Coconut cream again is over the amber serving limit of 15mls per serve.
"Beef rissoles: Doesn't meet veg content (note saying potato considered as salad veg?) but even with veg in rissole, brownie and onion in gravy it is still short."
On 13 January 2025 a ministry email to Compass Group listed changes required to five meals.
"Butter Chicken and Thai Chicken - reduce the coconut cream content to no more than 15mls per serve.
"Mac n Cheese: confirm cheese content (needs to be at least 17g per servce to meet yr 4-8 protein requirement) and ensure sides contribute sufficient protein to meet Y9+ requirements of at least 50g.
"Teriyaki Chicken: ensure that soy sauce content is less than 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) per serve.
"Beef Rissoles: increase vegetables by at least 15g to meet Y4-8 min requirement (60g)."
School Lunch Collective figures showed it was delivering about 103-107,000 lunches to about 440 schools a day with waste or uneaten lunches ranging from six to 10 percent.
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