News

Independent school caterer, Holroyd Howe, will launch a nationwide sugar reduction programme across its client schools from April 2015 following the successful pilot of its Half Measures Campaign.

The campaign was set up following research from Public Health England, which found that around one in five children in reception are overweight or obese. In light of this, Holroyd Howe developed an approach that aims to reduce the high levels of sugar consumption and trialled it at More House School in Surrey.

Matt Potts, executive chef, experimented with regularly used recipes by cutting their sugar content in half and trialling them in the school dining hall.

He said: "We live in a world of refinement, not invention. I often studied government and various companies' nutritional guidelines and realized that the biggest drug for children (sugar) is allowed to be unregulated across UK schools.

“This needs to be refined immediately, and Half Measures is setting the standards which I am certain others will follow."

The pilot scheme was deemed successful, as pupils did not notice any difference in taste or texture in the desserts they ate. The pilot school now uses 50% less sugar in all school desserts.

The nationwide roll out of the Half Measures programme into all of Holroyd Howe’s client schools will begin in April.