Long Overdue Move To Ban Unhealthy Food Lauded But Wouldn T Canteen Operators Resort To Price Hike

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“YOU are what you eat”.
In an attempt to avoid our future generations resembling overladen sausages and lumpen potatoes, the Education Ministry (MOE) has issued a list of prohibited food items in school canteens.

As reported by BFMNews (@NewsBFM) on X, the list contained many blindingly obvious items which should be automatically prohibited in schools anyway. These include “expired food” as well as “food and drinks that contain alcohol”.
Interestingly, there seems to be a concerted effort to ban processed foods which are the corner stone of many school canteens.
Yes, evergreen kids’ favourites – fries, sausages and nuggets – are out unless used as cooking ingredients. Instant products also share the same fate, so there’ll be no more Maggi mee goreng either.

Ice and ice cream products must meet MOE standards while young caffeine addicts will need to survive the school day sans coffee or tea. However, in an obvious nod to tired teachers, they will be allowed this little concession.

This commonsense move was welcomed by many with some contending that “it’s better late than never”.

However, one farsighted commenter did warn to expect a surge in prices as the inevitable consequence of serving better quality grub.

Some commenters wondered what would canteen operators, especially those run as co-operatives, end up selling? One observer argued that bad dietary habits stem from the home, not school.

The other pertinent query was what action will be taken if it is the school staff – notably teachers or wardens – who are guilty of selling these prohibited items.

The permitted use of processed foods as ingredients in cooking also prompted one commenter to see it as back door entry for certain banned items.

The ban on coffee and tea seemed to perturb quite a few with one commenter recounting that “teh-o ais sustained me through my schooling years”.

The fact that alcoholic beverages made the list pushed some to ask which schools were serving these drinks! One proclaimed he must have missed “happy hour”!

Jokes aside, it was mentioned that the real problem lie with vendors outside the school gates. With these vendors able to sell all manner of junk foods, canteen operators have to compete by selling similar items that appeal to kids.
In short, banning such items will inevitably lead to canteen operators going bust.

One commenter argued that the above scenario will inevitably lead to much outcry from canteen operators, thus causing a U-turn in the policy.

Well-intentioned as the move may be, it is not as straight forward as it seems. As pointed out, there will be inevitable price hikes which may cause hardships within the B40 segment.
That many of the banned items are sold by vendors outside school premises compounds the problem as school kids still have access to it whilst putting canteen operators under duress.
One commenter painted a rather bleak picture where nothing ever changes due to the endless cycle of tenders for cheap food providers, followed by unappealing food and finally banned items being secretly sold in school canteens.

As depressing as that sounds, it does hit the nail on the head. Well-intentioned lists such as this are useless without enforcement and proper solutions to stop sale of these banned items outside school premises. –  Focus Malaysia

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