Using FoodChecker for schools
Get a free and instant report of the food and drinks you supply with our online assessment tool, FoodChecker!
Overview
Get a free and instant report of the food and drinks you supply with our online assessment tool, FoodChecker!
Use FoodChecker to find out if the foods and drinks you supply are classified Everyday, Select Carefully, Occasionally, or as confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks according to the Victorian Government’s Canteens, Healthy Eating and Other Food Services policy.
Whether your school has a canteen, external food service provider or occasional lunch orders, you can assess a whole menu, or assess individual products and recipes.
You can use FoodChecker to:
- assess your current menu against the policy to get recommendations for healthy changes
- plan a menu that meets the policy (ie, more than 50% of items are from the Everyday category, and there’s no Occasionally items, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks).
- assess individual recipes
- classify individual products
- find healthier Everyday, Select Carefully products
You will receive an instant report with feedback on the food and drinks you supply, as well as recommendations for healthier changes to meet the requirements of the policy.
You can do an assessment anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected device!
Want to supply healthier foods and drinks in your organisation?
FoodChecker makes it easy.
With FoodChecker, you can plan and assess menus and vending machines that meet government guidelines for long day care, schools, hospitals, sport and recreation facilities and more!
It’s free and easy to use.
Find ingredients fast, save your favourite recipes, and go faster with our templates for common recipes.
You can also search the database to find over 10,000 products classified as GREEN, AMBER or RED. Or assess new products yourself.
You’ll get instant and accurate results, and tailored advice for healthier changes.
Want to make changes? Simply copy a previous assessment, add, remove or edit your items, and resubmit for updated results.
Say goodbye to time-consuming manual assessments and spreadsheets – FoodChecker takes the hard work out of planning menus and vending machines that meet government guidelines.
Get started today at foodchecker.au.
You can use FoodChecker to assess your whole canteen menu, including lunch and recess offerings, recipes made on site, and packaged products.
Your menu assessment report will include:
- a classification for every food and drink item you entered (Everyday, Select Carefully, Occasionally, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks)
- recommendations for healthier alternatives
- the overall percentage of Everyday, Select Carefully, Occasionally, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drink items on your menu
- recommendations to decrease the amount of Occasionally, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drink options and increase the amount of Everyday items on your menu
- advice on promoting your healthier options
When you make changes to your menu you can reassess it online, or use FoodChecker to plan future menus that meet the policy.
Before you start:
You will need:
- a recipe for every food and drink item made on site, with exact quantities for each ingredient (e.g. grams, kilograms, litres).
- the name and nutrition information for all packaged and pre-made items.
Recipe assessments
You can use FoodChecker to find out if the recipes you prepare on site are classified as Everyday, Select Carefully, Occasionally, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks.
Your instant report will include the recipe’s classification, plus recommendations on how to make it healthier.
You can enter your own recipe or use the ‘common recipes’ feature to select from hundreds of standard recipes, and modify them to match yours. You can also save your favourite recipes to use in future.
Product assessments
You can use FoodChecker to find out if the branded food and drink products supplied in your canteen are classified Everyday, Select Carefully, Occasionally, or confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks.
Select from thousands of items already in our database or enter the details of a new item and save it to your account.
Your report will include each product’s classification, with feedback and suggestions for a healthier choice (if relevant).
For more information please phone 1300 22 52 88 or email heas@nnf.org.au
Except where otherwise indicated, the images in this document show models and illustrative settings only, and do not necessarily depict actual services, facilities or recipients of services. This document may contain images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this document, ‘Aboriginal’ refers to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ‘Indigenous’ or ‘Koori/Koorie’ is retained when part of the title of a report, program or quotation. Copyright © State of Victoria 2016
Written and reviewed by dietitians and nutritionists at National Nutrition Foundation, with support from the Victorian Government.
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The Healthy Eating Advisory Service acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders past and present.
The Healthy Eating Advisory Service is delivered by experienced nutritionists and dietitians at National Nutrition Foundation, with support from the Victorian Government.
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