-Some of the students get daily nutrition from the Lunch Program-
Delegation led by City Council Representative, Head of the Health and Food Safety Sub-Committee J.Amarsanaa have conducted inspection on the quality of the Lunch Program being conducted at the secondary schools.
The delegation includes officials from City Council, City Special Inspection Authority, City Education Department, City Health Department, City Health Institute and specialists from the Ministry of Health and Sports. They have chosen to inspect one school in the city center and school No 79 from the remote city area.
J.Amarsanaa on the inspection of the schools said that the delegation chosen the schools on purpose and the investigation results showed that no significant difference was noticed in the quality of the Lunch Program food for school children in city center and in remote areas of the city. Mostly children are served juice and cream soup during their lunch and the cost per lunch is at MNT 600, which is not enough to deliver nutritious food according to the school management.
The law states that Lunch Program should provide 15 percent of the daily nutrition, but the investigation resulted that the lunch served in secondary schools are short about 100 kcal, which is explained by the lack of proper funds. The initial cost equal to MNT 600 includes only the ingredients for the lunch, while in reality there are additional costs associated with preparation of the lunch which includes fixed costs for the chef, electricity andrent. As such school management explain that budgeted MNT 600 now includes all that cost.
-Does it mean that the budget per lunch should be increased from the current MNT 600 or there should be changes conducted in the process of preparing the lunch?
-It would be proper to increase the MNT 600. There is real difference in quality of life for the kids studying in city center and kids studying in the remote city areas. Director of School No 79 mentioned that most of their kids receive the majority of their daily nutrition from the Lunch Program. Therefore, if the situation is real then it is social responsibility to increase the budget for the school lunch.
While students attending schools in the city center are having better quality of life, therefore it is proper to increase the lunch budget in targeted areas, whereas incleasing it overall. But this issue is not under City Council, the decision making body here is the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Therefore, it is our responsibility to report on the real conditions and deliver suggestions on targeted actions to the ministry.
-What violations were revealed during the inspection?
-Violations were mainly in the kitchen of the schools where the food is prepared. Major violations were lack of proper food storage standards, chefs were not using the food gloves when preparing the food. The most serious violation was the use of the trans fat in preparation of the food.
While students attending schools in the city center are having better quality of life, therefore it is proper to increase the lunch budget in targeted areas, whereas incleasing it overall.
It is proven that the use of trans fat hugely damages health and it is being used daily in school lunches.
Trans fat leads to cardio-vascular diseases, which have become one of the top reasons for death in Mongolia. There is need to ban the use of trans fat in school food.
Moreover the Minister of Health order No 207 clearly states that use of sweets in school meals, two schools we conducted the investigation both violated this order.
-The use and sell of the sweetened products has long been in the practice with the schools?
-It could be a norm. But there is real need to ban the use of sweetened products at schools. It is also counts as a violation to not adhere to the Minister Order. City Council ordered to all schools and kindergartens to adhere to the Orders of the Minister of Health. If the violations are registered the harsh measures will be taken against the school management or the responsible bodies.
Studies show that the oral health of the children is not good at all and prevailing conditions are dental problems. The main reason is the excessive use of sweets and the school should not be a place that contributes to bad health.
Moreover, schools sell energy drinks, which have high amount of ingredients llike caffein and other additives that may lead to addiction to substances. In order to stop this we are sending out official letters of notice on banning the sell of those drinks.
-There were several instances with food poisoning in the city as well as in the rural areas of the country. Were there any guarantee that those would not be repeated?
-Those violations can be avoided through the constant and sudden investigations and with the monitoring of the safety standards to be adhered when handling the food at schools.
-What is planned for the promotion of the food safety for the city residents?
-Foremost is the indication of the calorific qualities of the food that is offered on the menu in all food serving entities in Ulaanbaatar city. It is evident that city residents either overeat or do not receive their daily nutrition.
We are working on the standards for the food service entities to include the calorific value of each food listed on their menus. Following that we are to indicate that the fat constituent of the food should not exceed 30 percent of the total calories stated in one portion. This standard is to be introduced very soon so that the food service entities should be starting their preparations as well. This measure is directed at decreasing the cardio-vascular diseases among the population.
-Some of the students get daily nutrition from the Lunch Program-
Delegation led by City Council Representative, Head of the Health and Food Safety Sub-Committee J.Amarsanaa have conducted inspection on the quality of the Lunch Program being conducted at the secondary schools.
The delegation includes officials from City Council, City Special Inspection Authority, City Education Department, City Health Department, City Health Institute and specialists from the Ministry of Health and Sports. They have chosen to inspect one school in the city center and school No 79 from the remote city area.
J.Amarsanaa on the inspection of the schools said that the delegation chosen the schools on purpose and the investigation results showed that no significant difference was noticed in the quality of the Lunch Program food for school children in city center and in remote areas of the city. Mostly children are served juice and cream soup during their lunch and the cost per lunch is at MNT 600, which is not enough to deliver nutritious food according to the school management.
The law states that Lunch Program should provide 15 percent of the daily nutrition, but the investigation resulted that the lunch served in secondary schools are short about 100 kcal, which is explained by the lack of proper funds. The initial cost equal to MNT 600 includes only the ingredients for the lunch, while in reality there are additional costs associated with preparation of the lunch which includes fixed costs for the chef, electricity andrent. As such school management explain that budgeted MNT 600 now includes all that cost.
-Does it mean that the budget per lunch should be increased from the current MNT 600 or there should be changes conducted in the process of preparing the lunch?
-It would be proper to increase the MNT 600. There is real difference in quality of life for the kids studying in city center and kids studying in the remote city areas. Director of School No 79 mentioned that most of their kids receive the majority of their daily nutrition from the Lunch Program. Therefore, if the situation is real then it is social responsibility to increase the budget for the school lunch.
While students attending schools in the city center are having better quality of life, therefore it is proper to increase the lunch budget in targeted areas, whereas incleasing it overall. But this issue is not under City Council, the decision making body here is the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Therefore, it is our responsibility to report on the real conditions and deliver suggestions on targeted actions to the ministry.
-What violations were revealed during the inspection?
-Violations were mainly in the kitchen of the schools where the food is prepared. Major violations were lack of proper food storage standards, chefs were not using the food gloves when preparing the food. The most serious violation was the use of the trans fat in preparation of the food.
While students attending schools in the city center are having better quality of life, therefore it is proper to increase the lunch budget in targeted areas, whereas incleasing it overall.
It is proven that the use of trans fat hugely damages health and it is being used daily in school lunches.
Trans fat leads to cardio-vascular diseases, which have become one of the top reasons for death in Mongolia. There is need to ban the use of trans fat in school food.
Moreover the Minister of Health order No 207 clearly states that use of sweets in school meals, two schools we conducted the investigation both violated this order.
-The use and sell of the sweetened products has long been in the practice with the schools?
-It could be a norm. But there is real need to ban the use of sweetened products at schools. It is also counts as a violation to not adhere to the Minister Order. City Council ordered to all schools and kindergartens to adhere to the Orders of the Minister of Health. If the violations are registered the harsh measures will be taken against the school management or the responsible bodies.
Studies show that the oral health of the children is not good at all and prevailing conditions are dental problems. The main reason is the excessive use of sweets and the school should not be a place that contributes to bad health.
Moreover, schools sell energy drinks, which have high amount of ingredients llike caffein and other additives that may lead to addiction to substances. In order to stop this we are sending out official letters of notice on banning the sell of those drinks.
-There were several instances with food poisoning in the city as well as in the rural areas of the country. Were there any guarantee that those would not be repeated?
-Those violations can be avoided through the constant and sudden investigations and with the monitoring of the safety standards to be adhered when handling the food at schools.
-What is planned for the promotion of the food safety for the city residents?
-Foremost is the indication of the calorific qualities of the food that is offered on the menu in all food serving entities in Ulaanbaatar city. It is evident that city residents either overeat or do not receive their daily nutrition.
We are working on the standards for the food service entities to include the calorific value of each food listed on their menus. Following that we are to indicate that the fat constituent of the food should not exceed 30 percent of the total calories stated in one portion. This standard is to be introduced very soon so that the food service entities should be starting their preparations as well. This measure is directed at decreasing the cardio-vascular diseases among the population.