From the School Gate to Children’s Plate: Golden Rules for Safer School Meals

These guidelines were designed based on a collection of documents from each regional bureau including government guidelines and the 5 Keys to Safer Foods of the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is intended for school feeding programme managers responsible for the overall quality and safety of the food provided in schools, and for the people responsible in designing training for cooks and food handlers at school level. The reader learns basic food safety principles and good practices for the selection, storage, preparation, and serving of food. Food handlers are recommended to follow / incorporate it in their daily routine.

The objective is to reduce the risks to acceptable levels and prevent food contamination by improving existing handling practices, with the goal of serving safe meals to school-age children. Each section concludes with suggestions to adapt the content to local needs and facilitate training.

These guidelines could also be used as a basis for reinforcing national or regional regulations regarding food safety and quality in school environment along with training material used by national and regional authorities.