Top Food Scientist Advocates for Return of School Cooks, Criticizes Catering Companies

School lunches can only be improved by bringing cooks back into school kitchens and phasing out large catering companies, according to Dr. Dolly van Tulleken, a public health adviser and epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge. Van Tulleken stated that schools and local councils have become overly reliant on external companies, many of which serve thousands of institutions, resulting in substandard food.

Van Tulleken, who also chairs the food campaign group Bite Back, contends that new food standards guidelines announced by the Labour party will not improve the system without direct investment into schools. These guidelines, set to take effect next September, aim to enhance school meals by reducing fried and sweet options and increasing vegetables and fiber. However, a study by Bite Back in August found that over three-quarters of secondary school menus already failed to meet current, less stringent standards, suggesting non-compliance with future rules if not strictly enforced.

"Big companies are unable to change – so what is the case of pouring resources into them?" van Tulleken questioned. "We have been sold a lie by the catering companies that they are making it easier when actually they are not complying and are deskilling the schools and then choosing this absolute bottom quality food which is just terrible."

She suggested that if catering companies were removed and the allocated funds were reinvested in training school staff and improving procurement, the outcome would be more positive. Van Tulleken emphasized the need to upskill schools to employ qualified cooks, source high-quality produce, and manage procurement internally or through collaborative school networks. As an example, she cited a group of primary schools in West Sussex that successfully transitioned to an in-house system after dismissing a large catering company, resulting in a more affordable and effective operation.

While acknowledging the argument that the government fails to provide adequate funding, van Tulleken disagrees with a catering company-centric approach, noting that these companies extract funds from the system to generate profit. She questioned their necessity, arguing that they have created a market by assuring schools and councils that they can handle meal provision, thus securing funding without necessarily delivering quality.

Van Tulleken pointed to initiatives like Chefs in Schools, co-founded by former Michelin-starred chef Nicole Pisani, as a model for positive change. Pisani left her restaurant role to manage school lunches at a London school and now trains culinary staff for other institutions. Earlier this year, van Tulleken publicly criticized the lunches at her son's primary school, supplied by catering giant Chartwells, as a "public health scandal." Her own laboratory analysis of the ingredients revealed a high prevalence of ultra-processed foods, characterized by excessive salt and sugar and artificial additives, which are linked to serious health issues including heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and dementia.