Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools

The Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools (Revised 2007) are designed to maximize students’ access to healthier options and fully eliminate the sale of unhealthy foods and beverages in BC schools by September 2008. Developed by a team of BC Community Nutritionists, the revised Guidelines align with the most current Canada’s Food Guide (2007) and distinguish food and beverage options into four categories: Choose Most, Choose Sometimes, Choose Least and Not Recommended.

Effective September 2008, the revised Guidelines require all schools to eliminate the sale of foods and beverages meeting the Choose Least and Not Recommended categories.

View the complete Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools in English [268 KB] or French [237 KB].

• Q1. Who will be responsible for enforcing the Guidelines?
• Q2. Do the Guidelines apply to foods and beverages brought from home by students?
• Q3. Will teachers be able to examine student lunches and remove foods and beverages from their lunch box if they do not meet the regulations?
• Q4. Do the Guidelines apply to food and beverage sales at school-related events (e.g., sporting events, school fundraisers) even when the events are held off school grounds and/or adults make up the majority of the customers at those events?
• Q5. Will the new regulations put an end to the bake sale fundraiser because the food is homemade?
• Q6. How do the Guidelines apply to school fundraisers involving selling food items in the community door-to-door?
• Q7. Why do the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools allow:
• Q8. What about food made in home economics classes? Business classes?
• Q9. Do the Guidelines apply to lunches organized by parent groups?
• Q10. Why aren’t the criteria for fat set lower?
• Q11. Where can schools get help to implement the Guidelines?
• Q12. Can we apply the Guidelines more broadly than just to the items we sell?
• Q13. The Guidelines seem very detailed. Why?
• Q14. Any tips to make the Guidelines easier to use?
• Q15. How did the nutrition criteria get developed?
• Q16. What is the rational behind the specific nutrient limits?
• Q17. What about caffeine?
• Q18. What about artificial sweeteners?
• Q19. Are “Not Recommended” foods junk-foods?
• Q20. How can we make changes when we have a contract with a vendor?
• Q21. How can we market the healthier choices to students?
• Q22. What do all the dental cautions in the Guidelines really mean?

Q1. Who will be responsible for enforcing the Guidelines? Top

Q2. Do the Guidelines apply to foods and beverages brought from home by students? Top
No, the Guidelines only apply to food and beverage items that are "sold" to students. They do not apply to food and beverage items that students bring from home.

Q3. Will teachers be able to examine student lunches and remove foods and beverages from their lunch box if they do not meet the regulations? Top

Schools can share information about healthy lunches/snacks with students and parents, but teachers should not be removing food and beverage items from student lunch boxes on the basis that they do not meet the Guideline requirements.

Q4. Do the Guidelines apply to food and beverage sales at school-related events (e.g., sporting events, school fundraisers) even when the events are held off school grounds and/or adults make up the majority of the customers at those events? Top

The Guidelines apply to any food or beverages sold to all students both on school grounds and at school-organized events off the school grounds (e.g., track meets, fundraisers, etc.), where the school has jurisdiction over what food and beverage items are being offered.

Q5. Will the new regulations put an end to the bake sale fundraiser because the food is homemade? Top

No, however the baked goods will be required to meet the Guideline requirements for Choose Most or Choose Sometimes. Great recipes for healthy baked goods can be found in Bake Better Bites! Recipes and Tips for Healthier Baked Goods by Dietitians of Canada.

Q6. How do the Guidelines apply to school fundraisers involving selling food items in the community door-to-door? Top

The Guidelines apply to those situations where the food items are being sold to students (i.e., they would not apply to fund-raisers where students are selling chocolate almonds door-to-door, as the customers would not be students). Having said this, the Ministry does not advocate for selling junk food to non-students either, as it sends mixed messages to students. To assist your school with ideas for fundraising without junk food, DASH BC has released an excellent document entitled Healthy Fundraising for Schools that contains some great ideas for fundraising, including examples from various BC schools.

Q7. Why do the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools allow: Top

• Potato chips and corn chips? The key issues are the serving size, and the fat and sodium content. Some chip manufacturers have developed lower sodium, transfat‐free versions of chips. They provide some nutrients, and in small portions (or moderate portions for the lower fat versions) they can be an occasional snack. Look for nutrition criteria for chips in the Grain food grouping (corn, wheat, rice chips) and the Vegetable/Fruit grouping (potato, apple chips) of the Guidelines.
• French fries? Some, but not all, french fries are allowed. Just like hot dogs and chips, french fries need to be assessed according the nutrition criteria in the Guidelines (look in the Vegetables & Fruit food grouping). Baked fries will almost always be healthier choices than deep‐fried fries, but the key issues will be the serving size or total calories, and the fat, transfat and sodium content.
• Hot dogs? While most wieners are very high in salt, total fat, or transfat, there is nothing inherently wrong with the concept of hot dogs. In fact, healthier wieners do exist, and manufacturers are likely to develop more. Look for the nutrition criteria for wieners in the Meat & Alternatives food grouping of the Guidelines.

Q8. What about food made in home economics classes? Business classes? Top

The curriculum encourages teachers to use Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating as their nutrition standard. However, if a class is responsible for items being sold to students, then the Guidelines should apply.

Q9. Do the Guidelines apply to lunches organized by parent groups? Top

Yes, unless the lunches are provided free-of-cost. The Guidelines apply to any food or beverages sold to students within the school grounds and at school-organized events off the school grounds,regardless of the organizing group.

Q10. Why aren’t the criteria for fat set lower? Top

Children are not yet fully grown and their brains and cells need a greater proportion of fat than adults’ do. Also, fat is found in many healthy foods. Allowing foods with moderate fat content helps schools to encourage children to take a holistic approach, rather than a fat phobic approach, to healthy eating. All the nutrition criteria together – not just fat alone – help to screen out less healthy items.

Q11. Where can schools get help to implement the Guidelines? Top

There are a variety of places for schools to get help.

• Many schools have formed successful teams that focus on nutrition, to plan and implement changes. The teams can have a diverse membership with administrators, teachers, parents, students, and vendors, etc.
• Ask within your Parent Advisory Committee if there are parents with an interest in health that could help.
• Your vendor may be able to advise you as to how the items on their stock list fit into the Guidelines.
• Check out the Guideline Support resources
• Your local Health Unit’s Community Nutritionist or Public Health Nurse can be a great source of assistance.

Q12. Can we apply the Guidelines more broadly than just to the items we sell? Top

Yes. The Guidelines can apply to all food and beverages in the school environment. The only caution is in using the Guidelines for lunches brought from home. Schools can share information about healthy lunches/snacks with students and parents, but they should not be policing what is in lunch bags.

Q13. The Guidelines seem very detailed. Why? Top

The Guidelines provide technical scientific information. Many packaged/processed foods in our complex food supply defy easy identification within Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. BC’s detailed nutrition criteria were designed to prevent the misinterpretation problems that occurred with simpler school food guidance resources used in the past.

Q14. Any tips to make the Guidelines easier to use? Top

Keep a list of the items you sell, and document how they rate against the nutrition criteria. The Guideline support resources include a number of handy tools such as criteria charts, stock lists, fact sheets and available services that can assist you with implementing the Guidelines at your school.

Q15. How did the nutrition criteria get developed? Top

Experiences from the staff and students in schools that have made changes to healthier choices were studied, including many BC schools. Throughout 2005, focus groups and conference calls were held with teachers, principals/administrators/trustees, parents, vendors, food manufacturers, dietitians, dental health professionals, public health nurses, pediatricians, agriculture, federal food inspectors, and other provinces’ school health consultants to get their opinions on key nutrition and food supply issues facing today’s children in the school environment. With this collective perspective, an Advisory Group of BC Community Nutritionists (Registered Dietitians) then looked at the nutrition facts of over 900 foods, including many popular vended snacks and beverages, and set the nutrition criteria for the Guidelines based on the current and potential food supply.

The Guidelines were later revised in 2007 to:

• align with Canada’s Food Guide (2007) which recommends much lower fat, salt, and sugar consumption for persons over the age of two;
• reflect the knowledge gained since mandatory nutrition labeling came into effect;
• eliminate the Choose Least food and beverage options which could previously make up 10 percent of products offered; effectively eliminating sales of all diet beverages from Elementary and Middle schools, most fries, and highly salted, sweetened and processed products; and
• adopt stricter criteria for fat, salt, and sugar in the Choose Most and Choose Sometimes categories, thereby eliminating sales of chips moderately high in fat or salt, high sugar energy bars and a few other products.

Q16. What is the rational behind the specific nutrient limits? Top

The nutrients were chosen for their importance for children’s growth and learning, and for how easily schools could access information about the specific nutrient in a product.

Q17. What about caffeine? Top

Health Canada has set safety limits for caffeine in children. The criteria for caffeine in the Guidelines are stricter than Health Canada’s safety limits to help prevent a cumulative daily intake exceeding the safety limit. The criteria also reflect the fact that children’s behaviour and ability to learn are affected at intakes below the safety limits.

Q18. What about artificial sweeteners? Top

After a careful review of current scientific literature, the Advisory Group decided to allow artificial sweeteners within the Choose Sometimes category. Choose Sometimes foods contribute important nutrients for children. An exception was made for “Other Beverages”. Artificially sweetened “other beverages” typically do not contribute nutrients (unless fortified) and have significant amounts of artificial sweeteners. The Advisory Group concluded their intake should be minimized. They are Choose Least items.

Q19. Are “Not Recommended” foods junk-foods? Top

Some “Not Recommended” items, like pop and candy, are commonly called “junk food”, but you don’t become bad or junky if you eat them. These foods are fine to enjoy in small amounts from time to time, but it is best that schools do not promote them by selling them to students. Some of the nutrition criteria, like trans fat limits, put some otherwise very healthy choices into the “Not Recommended” group. Look for healthier versions that pass the criteria.

Q20. How can we make changes when we have a contract with a vendor? Top
This should not be a problem. Vendors have a wide selection of beverages and snacks, healthier choices as well as less healthy choices, in their inventory. The Canadian Automatic Merchandising Association is encouraging its members to work within their contracts to provide healthier choices for schools. The Sample School District Vending Machine Services RFP [132 KB]can assist you in negotiating a new contract with your vendor.

Q21. How can we market the healthier choices to students? Top

Involve the students in your marketing plan. One Principal in a middle school got the students together in the gym, gave them a list of healthier choices, and asked them to pick their favourites to go into the vending machines and school store. The students felt pride and ownership in the changes. Secondary schools have involved their business students or student council.

Schools that have already made the switch report that students accept and enjoy the healthier foods within a matter of weeks – sometimes just a few days! Give them positive reasons for the healthier choices. Instead of saying “it’s for your own good” or “junk food is bad for you” try:

• “Healthier foods give your brain (or muscles) better fuel”
• “Milk has calcium to make your bones strong, and energy to help your body play”
• “Apples aren’t just nutritious, they’re also sweet, crunchy, natural, and delicious.”
• “Our school is the best, and so we deserve the best food.”

Q22. What do all the dental cautions in the Guidelines really mean? Top

The bottom line for dental health at school is to prevent grazing and sipping all day, two habits that are known to increase the incidence of tooth decay. Schools can encourage students to not eat or drink (except plain water) during class time.

Support Resources

The Brand Name Food List provides nutrition ratings for packaged and franchised food and beverages. This list will help you more easily find Choose Most and Choose Sometimes items that meet the provincial guidelines.

Expanded Dial-a-Dietitian services answer your school nutrition questions and link you to appropriate tools and local supports (e.g., community nutritionists). In Greater Vancouver call (604) 732-9191, or toll-free in BC call 1-800-667-3438. Find helpful school nutrition links at http://www.dialadietitian.org/.

Healthy Fundraising for Schools [2.03 MB](DASH BC) contains creative ideas and success stories from BC schools on how to integrate healthy eating and physical activity into schools events.

Bake Better Bites! Recipes and Tips for Healthier Baked Goods [2.40 MB](Dietitians of Canada) includes recipes that meet the Guidelines for Food and Beverage sales in BC Schools, as well as tips to make favourite recipes healthier.

Use the Criteria Chart for Food and Beverage Sales Guidelines [544 KB] to identify what Choose category a product falls under.

Find information on how food and beverage choices can lead to tooth decay in the Dental Health: School Food and Beverage Sales Fact Sheet. [198 KB]
Create your own food and beverage stock list with the Tool for Stocking Healthy Foods in Schools [68 KB].

Make the step-by-step transition to healthier vending machine choices at your school with School Vending Machines: Steps to Meeting the Guidelines [384 KB] and the Sample School District Vending Machine Services RFP [132 KB]

School Food Sales and Policies Provincial Reports

The School Food Sales and Policies Provincial Report II (2008) [364 KB] measures progress on the elimination of unhealthy foods and beverages in BC public schools since 2005, and assesses the impact of the Guidelines for Food and Beverages (2005) on reaching this goal. The report also assesses the economic impact of school food and beverage sales, identifies opportunities for action, and highlights examples of progress in schools and districts province-wide.

The School Food Sales and Policies Provincial Report (2005) [164 KB]examines the status of food sales in BC schools; the extent to which 'more healthy’ or ‘less healthy’ choices are offered; and the degree to which nutrition policies have been, or are being, implemented.  [French version] [244 KB]

External Links

Healthier Choices in Public Buildings