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Oliver brought up this issue on BBC Radio 4, saying: "If you look at the money raised from the sugary drinks tax, it's not far off what's needed [to fund the expansion of free school meals]. If you've got a couple of kids coming in not fed, that affects plan A, plan B and plan C of a teacher's hour.

“It's like passive smoking. We're talking about all children being affected by some of the kids maybe being disruptive or sleeping or any other kind of carnage that goes along with the poverty of hunger."

Oliver believes that children living in households that receive universal credit should be included on the free school meals scheme. In England this would mean an additional 800,000 children would be eligible for free school meals.

A spokesperson for LACA added: “We welcome Jamie Oliver’s call for the revenue raised by the sugar tax levy to be spent on extending school meals. Too many children are falling through the cracks, which is why we support the extension to all those children whose parents are receiving universal credit.”