FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
Eating for Success: A low additive
eating plan for schools
Why schools should minimise food additives
After a review of numerous scientific studies, independent scientists
from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest recommended that schools and
other institutions dealing with children should minimise the use of food
additives, especially food colours, that may contribute to behavioural
disorders. "The obvious public health response would be to remove the
irritants, if possible, from the foods that children eat," the scientists
concluded. The report is available from www.cspinet.org/diet.html.
When
schools reduce additives in various ways, they always see positive results.
In the most publicised
program,
In another
A number of Australian schools have joined the growing trend. When Rosemeadow Public School in NSW removed preservatives, coloured cordials and fizzy soft drinks and encouraged children to drink water or milk, within six weeks, there was a ‘40 to 60% drop in certain types of behaviour that children were exhibiting in the classroom, and an increase of 30 to 40% in the length of time they could concentrate on a task’ – See Undernourished, Catalyst, 25/3/2004, http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1073786.htm
In
The
About 70-80 per cent of
children joined the trial, and everyone noticed a difference – students were
quieter, calmer, there was less yelling in class, they were concentrating
better, nicer to each other, less annoying and more cooperative. After the
trial, the children were allowed to buy a treat, and the cameras caught what
some experts claim never happens – the children became loud, cheeky, annoying
and fought with each other again. You can see the results for yourself in the
DVD Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour.
View the Palmers Island
segment of the DVD “Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour”. Larger version 3Mb.
The Eating for Success Program
Many schools have asked for
further details on how to organise a program like the one at Palmer’s Island
school. For this program, it is vital to have the full support of the staff and
particularly the active involvement of the School Principal. Unless all staff
are prepared to model the required eating habits, this program is unlikely to
have lasting effects. For alternative ways of reducing additives, see Other Options below for some methods that other schools
have used.
Plan ahead
You’ll need to start planning
at least four weeks in advance.
·
Organise resources – photocopied and
laminated card of nasty additives for each child, What can we eat booklet of suitable foods for parents
·
Request donations of food for the
free breakfasts from local businesses
·
Organise roster of staff and parents
to help with the free breakfasts
Before the trial
·
Inform parents of the trial and ask
for signed permission forms for those intending to take part (and get the free
breakfasts), e.g.
‘This program is not only for children who “have
problems”, it is for every child enrolled at the school. We are attempting to
establish if there is a link between diet and achievement at school, positive
personal relationships, well-being and behaviour. In a study in England, the
majority of parents found their children benefited’ (from Palmer’s Island
trial)
·
Teach children how to read labels,
see Notes for teachers below.
·
Offer an information evening or
afternoon for parents, with screening of the DVD and free brochures, see Resources below.
·
Provide a list of off-limit and
suitable foods; suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks;
and useful recipes, see What can we Eat? below.
During the trial
·
Provide additive-free breakfasts at
no cost for two weeks for those enrolled in the program, see next point.
·
Provide cheerful, supportive
encouragement and model the required behaviour.
·
Discuss results with parents and children
What’s for breakfast? – the free breakfast program
Cereal (Weetbix, Rice
Bubbles)
Fresh Fruit - red delicious
apples or bananas
Toast (additive free) – with
additive-free margarine or pure butter, golden syrup or a home-made additive-free
rissole on the barbecue
Toad-in-the-Hole on the
barbecue (this was a great favourite), see recipe below
What CAN we eat? from Eating to Win by Sheryl Sibley
(with permission)
Basic,
plain, healthy staple-diet kind of foods. YOU be in charge of what’s added, not
surprised by what’s hidden!
Fruit
Vegetables
Fresh meat
Plain rice
Plain pasta
Plain or vanilla yoghurt
Plain milk/soy milk
Mild cheeses
Plain breads and rolls
LOTS OF PLAIN WATER
Sugar is OK (in moderation!)
Plain, unflavoured, additive-free:
rice cakes, corn cakes, corn chips, popcorn, pretzels, ‘jatz’ type crackers,
‘ryvita’ type crackers, *sakata rice crackers (*other plain varieties have
added MSG), Arnotts plain biscuits , (eg arrowroot, not cream)
Peters lemonade icypoles
Plain ice cream
Plain Kettle chips
Pascalls marshmallows (white
only)
Milky Bar white chocolate
Werthers Originals butter
candy and chewy toffees
Bottled Schweppes lemonade,
not cans (no colour, no preservatives)
Home made foods - YOU control the ingredients,
added fats and sugars!
Home Made ‘Takeaway’:
-burgers, -chips, -pizza, -chicken, -sausage rolls, -pies, -stir fries (see
recipes in the Failsafe Booklet, see Resources)
Home made Magic Cordial, see
recipe below
Home made or Werthers butter
candy, chewy toffees
Home made plain cake with
white icing (not coloured unless using Queen natural colours)
Home made shortbreads
Home made Anzac Biscuits (no
coconut) or Muesli Bars, see recipes below
* The best drink is WATER. It should be sipped
frequently throughout the day.*
Breakfast
Pancakes
Cereal (additive free), e.g.
Weetbix, Rice Bubbles, Porridge with milk
Fruit
Vanilla yoghurt (no annatto
natural colour 160b)
Toast made from
preservative-free bread
Toppings: additive-free
margarine or pure butter
Jam or honey (small amounts)
For pancakes: Pure butter and
pure Maple Syrup, or fruit and yoghurt
Don’t forget WATER all day –
keep juice as a one off.
See also What’s for
Breakfast? above – the free breakfast program.
Lunch
Sandwiches or rolls, with
fillings like mashed banana, cheese and salad, egg and salad, home made rissole
(cooked the night before) with salad on a roll.
Fruit such as pears, bananas,
red apples
Yoghurt
Carrot and celery sticks, cheese
and a boiled egg
Three bean mix
Dinner
Simple meals such as a plain
BBQ with salad, bread, plain pasta or rice.
Forget about using special
seasonings: plain and simple is a good rule of thumb when avoiding additives.\
For sample recipes, see the Failsafe booklet.
Desserts could include rice
pudding or bread and butter pudding (omit the dried fruit due to preservatives)
or
A simple homemade apple
crumble with some vanilla yoghurt or
A little plain vanilla ice
cream (colour free such as Peter's Original Vanilla, or Sarah Lee French
Vanilla).
Snacks
Plain rolls and bread, (if
you don’t like them plain, then you could add a bit of jam or honey)
Home-made pikelets
Home-made plain cakes
Scones
Rice cakes and corn cakes
Plain Salada type crackers,
home made oat bars or Anzac biscuits (recipes below)
Fruit to accompany the above
suggestions
A handful of cashews
Plain rice pudding snacks
such as ‘Delico Rice Pudding’ snacks
Plain biscuits such as
Arnott’s milk arrowroots
Some additive free brands
Try using the following
brands to avoid unnecessary colourings and preservatives:
Nestle
Naturals Yoghurts, Delico Ryzogalo/Rice Pudding,
some Arnotts Plain Sweet Biscuits, Bakers Delight Plain Breads, Brumby’s
Plain Breads, SunRice plain Rice cakes, Sakata Plain Rice
Crackers, www.honestbeef.com.au
preservative-free sausages
What foods are OFF LIMITS?
Anything with
added colouring, flavouring, preservatives, flavour enhancers. Check the
ingredient label! If you can tell it was developed in a laboratory or processed
to within an inch of its life, then DON’T EAT IT!
Take Away Foods: McDonalds,
KFC, Burger King, Hungry Jacks, Pizza, Chinese, Etc., etc… includes ‘Fish &
Chip Shop’ foods – all are too high in fat and additives!
TV dinners and packet meals
School lunch treats: pies,
sausage rolls, hot dogs, mini pizza, nuggets, ‘yummy drummies’ etc, doughnuts,
fairy bread, instant noodle meals, flavoured chips, flavoured corn chips,
twisties, cheetos, burger rings etc, noodles with flavour sachets and other
packet snack foods.
All snack biscuits: for
example - Pizza & BBQ shapes, ‘…in-a-biscuit’, dippers, savoury tiny teddy
snacks etc, etc, etc.
Coloured, flavoured lollies
Coloured, flavoured ice cream
Coloured, flavoured icypoles
Sports drinks eg Powerade,
Gatorade etc
Soft drink
Cordial
Caffeine enhanced drinks/
energy drinks
Commercial BBQ chicken
(loaded with flavour enhancers you can’t see!)
Commercial muesli nars
(coconut, fruit and oil in these bars have preservatives, and the bars have fat
added)
Bread with 282 or whey powder
Cup-a-soups, stock cubes
(added flavour enhancers)
Some useful recipes (from the Failsafe Cookbook by Sue Dengate)
Aussie toad
in the hole
As
used in the Palmer’s Island school breakfasts.
1
egg
1
slice preservative-free bread (no nasty additives or whey powder, e.g. Brumbys
or Bakers Delight)
oil
for frying (e.g. pure canola or sunflower oil, no antioxidants)
Place
a cookie cutter or a small glass over the middle of your bread and press hard
to make a round hole. Place the bread flat on the surface of a well oiled preheated
barbecue plate or frying pan and crack the egg into the centre hole. Cook for
about two minutes while the bread browns and the egg hardens, then flip and
repeat on the other side.
Rolled oat
bars
1 cup wholemeal self raising
flour
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 cups rolled oats
150 g pure butter (eg. Butter
Soft)
Combine flour, oats and sugar
in a bowl. Melt butter, add golden syrup and mix into dry ingredients. Press
into slice tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until brown. Cut into bars while
still hot, leave to cool before removing from tray. Makes about 20.
Quick
processor scones
3 cups self raising flour
¼ tsp sea salt
1-2 tbsp pure butter or
Nuttelex margarine
about 1 cup of milk
Put flour, salt and butter in
food processor and process until blended. Add liquid slowly until dough sticks
together in a soft, wet clump. Knead on a lightly floured board, roll out, cut
into squares or with scone cutters, place on a lightly greased oven tray and
bake in a hot oven 230°C for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm
wrapped in a clean cloth in a basket or freeze and freshen up in the microwave.
Good with butter, golden syrup or jam. These are popular for afternoon tea and
suitable for lunchboxes.
Pikelets
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
about ¾ cup milk
1 cup self raising flour
¼ salt
pure butter, Nuttelex
margarine or vegetable oil (eg antioxidant-free sunflower oil) for cooking
Beat egg and sugar until
thick, stir in milk, add flour and beat until smooth. Cook in spoonfuls in a hot
lightly greased frypan. Serve with sweet or savoury toppings.
Big Anzacs
1 cup plain flour
2 cups rolled oats
¾ cup sugar
125 g pure butter or Nuttelex
margarine
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp soda bicarb
2 tbsp boiling water
Mix together flour, oats and
sugar. Melt butter and golden syrup together. Mix bicarbonate with boiling
water and add to butter mixture. Pour into blended dry ingredients and stir to
combine. Place large spoonfuls of mixture onto greased oven tray, leaving room
to spread. Bake at 160°C for 20 mins.
Wade's
sausage rolls
500 g low-fat mince
3 chopped shallots
1 clove garlic, crushed
(optional)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Pampas Butter Puff pastry
ready-cut sheets
sea salt to taste
Preheat over to 180°C. Mix
mince with shallots, garlic, parsley and salt. Cut pastry sheets in half. Place
a sausage shape of mince in the middle of the sheet. Roll over, prick top. Cut
to required lengths. Bake 20 minutes or until cooked.
Margie's
lunchbox muffins
1½ cups self-raising flour
½ cup white or brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil (eg. pure
sunflower or canola)
½ cup chopped fresh or canned
pears
Sift flour into a bowl and
add remaining ingredients, stirring with a fork until mixed. Spray a 12 cup muffin
pan with canola oil and three quarter fill cups with mixture. Bake at 180°C for
15-20 minutes.
Magic cordial
Looks like water, tastes like
lemon cordial. The best drink is water, keep cordial for a one off treat.
2 cups white sugar
2 cups boiling water
1-2 ts citric acid
Combine sugar and water in a
4 cup heatproof jug or saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add citric
acid to taste and allow to cool. Dilute to taste with water or soda water,
approximately 1 part cordial to 5 parts water. Store in the fridge.
Reducing additives – other options
It can be very difficult to
change eating patterns. Here are some alternatives:
The litter ban program
One school (for obvious reasons,
they prefer to remain anonymous) achieved positive results by announcing a ban
on litter. This meant that children were not allowed out into the playground
with any kind of litter. Additives were never mentioned. Students found they
could carry home made food such as sandwiches and apples into the playground
but not packets of chips and other processed foods. “It’s pretty hard to carry
the contents of a packet of chips in your hands”, said one teacher. The result
is a clean playground, healthier, lower-additive foods and quieter, more
cooperative students.
Water on demand
Some schools have seen an
improvement in behaviour simply by encouraging children to have a bottle of
water on their desks at all times. When they are drinking water they are not
filling up on additive-laden drinks. This is a good start when reducing
additives.
A sporting event
When Teeball coach Sheryl
Sibley asked her Under-10 Girls Teeball team to go additive free for two weeks up
to and including the 3 day competition, her additive-free team won all 9
matches in 3 days to become undefeated ACT champions. 'These were all normal
kids who had never been diagnosed with anything”, said Sheryl, “yet the parents
could see a difference.” See Eating to Win: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factwin.htm
Others
You can see some other
methods that schools have used – such as banning junk from the school canteen
and selling only fruit at recess (Wolney), or selling only muesli bars
(Whitehorse Manor) - in Schools go low additive, http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factschools.htm
1. Show the Palmers Island
Trial and the Jamie Oliver clip How Junk food is Made to students (from the DVD
Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour, see below in Resources).
2. Discuss the advantages of
additive free eating, see box below.
|
Advantages of
additive-free eating Quieter Calmer Students nicer to each other Less annoying Not calling out in class so much More cooperative Can concentrate for much longer Improved coordination More focused Happier Less fighting between siblings Improved sleeping No headaches, stomach aches, asthma, skin rashes - as reported by students, parents and teachers in
additive-free school trials listed above |
3. Issue each child with a
laminated card Nasty Additives card like this (you can print them from Resources below.
|
Avoid these additives ss from www.fedup.com.au COLOURS 102,104,107,110,122,123,124,127,128, 129,132,133,142,151,155, natural colour 160b (annatto) PRESERVATIVES Sorbates 200, 201,
202, 203 Benzoates 210, 211, 212, 213 Sulphites 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228 Nitrates, nitrites 249, 250, 251, 252 Propionates 280, 281, 282,
283 ANTIOXIDANTS Gallates
310, 311, 312 TBHQ, BHA, BHT 319, 320, 321 FLAVOUR
ENHANCERS Glutamates incl MSG 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625 Ribonucleotides 627, 631, 635 Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (HVP) |
4. Encourage children to
bring their lunchboxes and other food wrappers to the session. (You might want
to have some extras handy.) Have them work in small groups to do “additive-spotting”.
First they have to find the ingredients list.
How many nasty additives they can find? (ask for
hands up, which foods contain sulphites, benzoates etc)
Some
questions for discussion
Question: Did anyone find the ingredients list hidden under
the seam of the wrapper? Or written in such small letters you couldn’t read it?
Or written in a colour (e.g. pale pink on a pale yellow background) that made
it hard to read? Why would food manufacturers do that?
Question: did you find names or numbers on the labels?
Answer: by law, manufacturers can use either. They tend
to use numbers on food that is thought of as “junk” and names on products that
are promoted as healthy – did anyone find an example (eg ‘annatto extracts’ in
yoghurt, ‘sodium benzoate’ in colour-free cordials). Why would they do that?
Question: which foods are most likely to contain flavour
enhancers?
Answer: foods that are tasty/savoury – not sweets,
desserts etc
Question: which foods are most likely to contain
artificial colours?
Answer: lollies – but you’ll probably find artificial
colours in a wide range of products from sweets and drinks to cereals and ready
meals
Question: Why can Maggi noodles say “simple
goodness – no artificial colours and flavours” on the label when they contain
MSG?
Answer: Because MSG is not an “artificial flavour”, it
is a “flavour enhancer”. Does anyone think this is a bit misleading? Why do you
think manufacturers do it?
Question: can a product that claims to be “preservative
free” contain antioxidants such as BHA (320)?
Answer: Yes – can anyone find an example? (It’s likely
to happen in packets of chips or other fried snack foods.) Note that many
brands of biscuits except Arnotts may contain BHA.
Question: did anyone notice that sulphites are
sometimes written in bold on a packet (e.g. some muesli bars). Why is this?
Answer: sulphites are the additives most likely to be
associated with asthma so they are one of a small group of ingredients (about
10) that must be obviously listed in Europe. Others include eggs, wheat, dairy,
nuts and other foods that can be associated with life-threatening allergic
reactions.
Question: did you know – HVP (hydrolysed vegetable
protein) is a natural form of MSG. Did anyone find HVP in a product labelled
“No MSG”?
Question: did you find any colour-free, preservative-free
lollies?
Discussion point: Contrary to public opinion, sugar
doesn't affect children's behaviour; it's the colours, preservatives or
flavours (especially high salicylate flavours such as mint or fruit for kids
who are sensitive to salicylates). Caramels, toffees or butterscotch - such as
Werthers - or vanilla flavoured milk-based sweets are the safest, if you can
find them without colours and preservatives. Home-made toffees and fudge are
easy and safe as treats.
Fed Up with Children’s
Behaviour DVD http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/books/setDVDinfo.htm
Brochures for parents http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/brochure.htm
The Eating for Success Booklet for avoiding additives in schools http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/extras/Eatingforsuccess.pdf
(You
are welcome to reproduce any of the recipes in the booklet with the
acknowledgement ‘from www.fedup.com.au’)
Laminated Additives to avoid card http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/additive%20card%20schools1.pdf
Acknowledgements this booklet is adapted with thanks
from Eating to Win by Sheryl Sibley,
see http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factwin.htm
and some of the resources developed by
The information given is not intended as
medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before
beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.
You can find a supportive dietitian through the Dietitians Association of
© Sue Dengate update December 2007 [Click here to download a pdf file of this
factsheet]
