Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Stephanie Worsop: Are the Ministry's new food guidelines a step too far?

Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
By Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
News Director, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
24 Jan, 2021 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

The MOE's new food guidelines to prevent choking come into effect today. Photo / Getty Images

The MOE's new food guidelines to prevent choking come into effect today. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Is it the Government's place to dictate what we feed our children?

When the Ministry of Education announced its new anti-choking food guidelines, my knee-jerk reaction was annoyance.

I pack my son's lunch every day so I think I know better than some pen-pushing official what my child can and can't eat.

And, as I'm sure most parents will attest, it's already hard enough to pack a lunch that's zero-waste, organic, nutritious, avoids nuts and other allergies and is affordable.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

So to be told further concessions need to be made at the expense of my own time and money had me huffing and puffing about what I was going to do now.

Others had a similar reaction to the ministry's move.

Early Childhood Council chief executive Peter Reynolds said he believed the Ministry of Education had gone too far by making these suggestions for daycare centres and Dr Julie Bhosale, a family nutrition expert, said grating apples and carrots was not a practical suggestion as they went brown quickly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said parents would look at these new guidelines and decide it was too hard.

From today, the ministry's rules ban early childhood education centres from feeding kids risky foods such as whole nuts, chips, dried fruits and sausages.

The ministry also provides instructions on how some non-banned foods should be prepared such as grating raw carrot and apple for children under 3 or removing strong fibres from "stringy foods" such as pineapple for children up to age 6.

I admit my initial reaction to these changes was not favourable.

But when I stopped and thought about the catalyst for these new rules and the purpose they would serve, I changed my tune.

For people who have never witnessed their child choking, it's easy to say these guidelines are overzealous and a step towards turning New Zealand into a nanny state.

But think for a moment how Neihana Renata's parents feel.

These guidelines put in place as a result of what happened to young Neihana.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Had they already been in place, they may have saved the Rotorua boy from the severe brain damage he suffered after he choked on a piece of apple at daycare in 2016.

I am sure Neihana's parents don't think these guidelines are a step too far.

In fact, I'd wager their biggest hope is that with these new guidelines, what happened to their son won't happen to another child.

The purpose of these guidelines is not to make our jobs as parents harder or to restrict our freedom of choice.

It's to keep our children safe.

And what parent wouldn't be on board with that?

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

live
Rotorua Daily Post

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin
live

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP