Cityserve launches its sugar reduction plan for Birmingham schools

Education caterer Cityserve, which is part of Birmingham City Council, officially launched its plan to cut the amount of sugar stocked by its schools by 30 per cent over the next 12 months.

The plans will be achieved through a range of measures including new recipes, product substitutions and limiting some condiments and other products.

The official launch of the year-long plan on Thursday September 27th coincided with a visit from the 100th group of schoolchildren to Cityserve’s headquarters in Birmingham for a hands-on workshop with its team of development chefs.

Children from The Abbey Catholic Primary School in Erdington spent the morning at Cityserve’s CityKitchen learning about healthy eating, how much sugar is in their food and the importance of exercise as well as making their own healthy pizzas for lunch.

They saw firsthand how the Cityserve team is working to reduce the amount of extra sugar used by schools as part of plans first revealed earlier this year.

They include limiting the use of sugars and honey within CityKitchen recipes and using reduced sugar products such as baked beans and desserts. They will be using no-added sugar products instead of existing products and limiting the use of condiments such as tomato ketchup and salad cream. It will also be limiting fruit juices and flavoured milk and using fruit and vegetables as a direct replacement for some products, and will be using low sugar fruit yoghurts instead of full fat equivalents.