Children will be only be allowed to have deep fried food, such as chips, twice a week and would have to have at least two portions of fruit or fresh vegetables with every meal, the education secretary Alan Johnson has announced.

From September 2008, schools will also have to make clear the nutritional and vitamin content of all the meals they provide.  School meals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.  The changes are based on the recommendations of the school meals reveiw panel, on which UNISON represents school catering staff.

"We have long been campaigning for better school meals for the nation's children commented UNISON head of education services Christina McAnea.  "A healthier diet will increase their ability to concentrate and learn and will ensure the long-term health of the population.

"It is well proven that what a child eats affects performance in class.  Decent meals give our children a better start in life, help them to concentrate better in class and have a positive benefit on the health of the nation".

The union is recommending that a national school meals service should be set up, to improve school dinners for children across England.

"Costs for school dinners vary dramatically from council to council" said McAnea.

"We want to see a national, comprehensive school meals service, adequately funded, publicly provided and with staff on fair pay and conditions that reflect their worth.  In addition, children who get free school dinners should not be treated differently in a way that makes them embarrassed about it.  Government support for healthier school meals is welcome but it will take more than just money to turn this round.  We need to have a properly planned workforce that has access to training and follows a minimum set of national standards.

UNISON has been running its Appetite for Life campaign to provide better school meals since September 2004.