School meals 'near collapse' as soaring food costs and lack of Government funding take toll

They say hot meals may disappear from cafeteria menus because of soaring food costs and a lack of Government funding.

The Local Authority Caterers Association joined food and health advisory groups to issue the warning in a letter to Education Secretary Ed Balls.

Days numbered? Hot school meals soon could be a thing of the past, providers warn

It said: ‘The majority of school meal providers are now running at a deficit which they will not be able to sustain.’

The association said the crisis has been made worse because ministers had failed to fund the meal improvements demanded by Jamie Oliver. The TV chef had highlighted the poor fare served in thousands of schools.

Take up of meals in primaries fell to just 41 per cent last year. The figures for secondary schools, at 38 per cent, were even worse.

The catering association argues that only a massive injection of money can save the meals service, tackle childhood obesity and improve diets.

It wants the Government to change the law and force councils to offer hot meals to pupils by 2011.

Parents pay an average of only £1.64 a day for school meals – meaning that an estimated 43 per cent of English local authorities made a loss on the service last year.

The association wants the Government to come up with an extra 50p per meal to improve ingredients and provide funds to build 4,025 kitchens.

It says the full package would cost £291million a year, including pay for kitchen staff to work longer hours to produce fresh food.