Jamie Oliver exposes junk food in school meals

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's high-profile campaign against "junk food" has put school lunches on the election menu in Britain, where obesity rates are growing faster than anywhere in the developed world.

Oliver, famed for his Naked Chef books and TV shows, cooked up a political storm after highlighting the "appalling" food served to children in state-run schools.

His message struck a chord with the public and over 150,000 Britons have signed an online petition supporting his "Feed Me Better" campaign for healthier meals.

The furore prompted Prime Minister Tony Blair to publicly back Oliver. This week Blair unveiled plans to improve school food.

But opponents derided the Government's response as electioneering that left a bad taste in the mouth.

With statistics revealing that 15.5 per cent of children under 11 in Britain were now obese, Oliver argued the current generation of children was on course to be the first to die before its parents because of bad eating habits.

One in five British adults has a serious weight problem, and in the last 22 years obesity has nearly trebled in adult women and almost quadrupled in men.

"The statistics show that we're growing more obese, getting more diseases linked with poor diet," said 29-year-old Oliver.

"If we don't act now, in 100 years what will people think? They'll look back and see all the signs were there and they'll say 'why didn't they do something?"'

A TV documentary crew followed Oliver as he tried to persuade youngsters to abandon a fatty diet of burgers and chips in favour of more nutritious food made from fresh ingredients. It proved a difficult task.

He struggled to produce healthy meals on a budget of 37p (96c) per child and found that some children in northeast England, statistically one of the unhealthiest parts of Britain, could not even identify common vegetables.

He also had to teach basic cooking skills to many school chefs - known as "dinner ladies" - who had previously only been required to reheat pre-prepared meals.

Teachers at the schools that took part in the documentary reported that children eating Oliver's meals were better behaved and less likely to need asthma inhalers.

Blair's Labour Party said this week it would introduce nutritional standards for school meals, governing levels of fat, sugar and salt, and would provide cash for schools to build new kitchens if it won an election expected in May.

It also promised a ban on junk food adverts on TV when children would be watching.

"I'm really pleased that Jamie Oliver has brought this issue into the limelight," Education Minister Margaret Hodge said, while insisting the campaign and the public outcry it provoked had not embarrassed the Government into action.

But political opponents accused Blair of a "cheap election stunt".

"For eight years under his stewardship our children have been eating the most appalling food which has got low nutritional standards," Liberal Democrat spokesman Phil Willis told the BBC.

"Some of our poorest children are being fed stuff, which quite frankly a lot of people would put into the garbage can."

- REUTERS