Ex-dinner lady Jeanette Orrey helps devise government's new school food standards

A former Nottinghamshire dinner lady has helped the government devise a new set of food standards for schools.

Mrs Jeanette Orrey was part of the standards panel advising the Education Secretary, Mr Michael Gove.

The new standards are designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible and nutritious menus.

They will be mandatory in all maintained schools, new academies and free schools.

Previous standards were introduced between 2006 and 2009.

In trials, the new standards proved popular with school cooks, 90% of whom said they were easier to implement than the old standards.

Those secondary schools that trialled the new standards reported an increase in the consumption of vegetables, leading to higher fibre, folate, vitamin A and vitamin C intake.

Mrs Orrey, a former dinner lady at St Peter’s Primary School, East Bridgford, was said to have inspired chef Jamie Oliver’s fight to improve school meals.

She is a Food For Life Partnership policy adviser.

Mrs Orrey, of Staunton, said: “As a former dinner lady, I know how much it helps that these new school food standards — which all schools, including academies, will be called on to meet — have been made simpler so that cooks have some room to be creative in coming up with nutritious menus that students will enjoy.”

Mr Gove said: “These new food standards will ensure all children are able to eat healthy, nutritious meals at school.

“We now have a clear and concise set of food standards which are easier for cooks to follow and less expensive to enforce. Crucially we have achieved this without any compromise on quality or nutrition.”

The deputy Prime Minister, Mr Nick Clegg, said: “Every mum and dad knows that if you want your child to do well at school, and particularly to concentrate well in the classroom in the afternoon, a healthy meal at lunchtime is vital.”