title: Government food service policies and guidelines do not create healthy school canteens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In 2006, the Victorian Government adopted the School Canteens and other school Food Services (SCFS) Policy that bans the sale of sweet drinks and confectionary and recommends the proportions of menu items based on a traffic light system of food classification. This study aims to determine whether compliance with the policy improves the nutritional profile of the menus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Items from food service menus were assessed for compliance with the SCFS policy and categorised as 'everyday' ('green'), 'select carefully' ('amber') or 'occasionally' ('red') (n=106). Profile analysis assessed differences in the nutritional profile of the menus between sub-groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 37% of menus contained items banned under the policy. The largest proportion of items on the assessed menus were from the 'amber' category (mean: 51.0%), followed by 'red' (29.3%) and 'green' (20.3%). No menus met the traffic light-based recommendations and there was no relationship between policy compliance and the proportion of items in each of the three categories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To increase the healthiness of the school food service we recommend a greater investment in resources and infrastructure to implement existing policies, and establishing stronger monitoring and support systems.
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, The McCaughey Centre, University of Melbourne, Victoria. andreams@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Silva-Sanigorski
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Breheny
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lacy
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Kristy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prosser
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Boyd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Swinburn
mesh_terms: D005518:Food Preferences; D005522:Food Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008612:Menu Planning / Q000592:standards*; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D012574:Schools; D013219:State Government; D014739:Victoria