Our nutrient criteria
Healthy Kids Association has developed the Healthy Kids GREEN and AMBER Nutrient Criteria to assist the food industry to make healthier products for school aged children.
The nutrient criteria are based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, the Fresh Tastes @ School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy and the other healthy school canteen strategies that are in place across Australia.
The healthy school canteen strategies classify food and drinks as:
GREEN “Fill the menu” – encourage and promote these foods in the canteen
AMBER “Select Carefully” – do not let these foods dominate the menu and avoid large serving sizes
RED “Occasionally” – do not sell these foods more than twice per term
The state strategies provide specific nutrient criteria for RED products and general guidelines for GREEN and AMBER products. Using the healthy school canteen strategies as a basis, Healthy Kids have set specific GREEN and AMBER nutrient criteria for over 50 categories of food and drink.
For many categories, the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria are stricter than the government guidelines to challenge food industry to make products even lower in saturated fat and sodium and higher in fibre and calcium.
Products that meet the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria can be registered with the Healthy Kids Product Registration Scheme.
For more information about the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria contact [email protected] and we’ll be happy to send you the criteria or talk you through it.
