§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the undertaking by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to follow up points raised in the debate on food and nutrition on 30 January (HL Deb, col. 260), whether they will say:
- (a) when they will conduct a survey into the effects of the nutritional guidelines for schools, introduced on 1 April 2001, on the current content, take-up and cost of school meals;
- (b) when they will launch a campaign to promote healthy eating among young adults; and
- (c) what amount of money they consider is necessary for an adult to spend per week on food in order to ensure a healthy balanced diet. [HL2779]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)The Department for Education and Skills is currently discussing with the Food Standards Agency how and when a survey should be launched to evaluate the operation of nutritional standards for school lunches. The DfES has no current plans to monitor the take up or cost of school meals.
The FSA is currently conducting research which will lead to new ways of providing information on healthy eating to young adults by the summer.
Various estimates have been made about the cost of a healthy balanced diet for an adult. In practice this will depend on a wide variety of factors including their circumstances and their dietary preferences.