Caterers defend school swipe cards in Scotland

Scottish school caterers have defended their cashless payment system after it emerged that the same card that rewards pupils for healthy eating could earn discounts in fast-food restaurants.

Fergus Chambers, director of catering for Glasgow City Council, said the city's secondary schools had developed "one of the most sophisticated health promotion schemes in the country" and that meal take-up had more than doubled to 75% since swipe cards were introduced in 1999.

Nearly half of Scottish schools have converted to cashless payment systems using swipe cards. In most cases the swipe card is twinned with the YoungScot card, a discount card funded by the Scottish Executive, which is offered free of charge to all secondary school pupils.

It provides discounts at 1,700 outlets in Scotland, including clothes, CDs, entry to sports and leisure centres, and reduced prices at Pizza Hut, KFCand McDonald's.

Annie Anderson, director of the centre for public health nutrition research at the University of Dundee, criticised the scheme for encouraging the use of fast-food restaurants, which have been linked to rising levels of obesity.

"There are no grounds on which any national youth scheme should link to them at all. They are already some of the biggest advertisers in the UK. We do not need to sell for them," she said.

But the Scottish Executive defended the inclusion of fast-food outlets. "Ultimately, no one expects kids never to eat a burger or chips. Overall, the scheme is encouraging kids to eat in school, eat well, and take exercise, so I don't think it's a contradiction in any way," said a spokesman.

n Additives and colourings have been eliminated from school meals in Conwy. The initiative was piloted at one primary school for more than a year. Take-up increased by 12% and teachers noticed that children were calmer in the afternoon. From last week the move was extended to all 65 primary schools in the county. Catering manager Carol Davies said: "We've been encouraged by the positive response from manufacturers, who have been prepared to modify and revise ingredients and recipes to meet our requirements. It has still been possible to create a menu for 5,000 pupils that can be prepared within strict financial targets and appeals to children."