Download Food and Drink Policy

Food and Drink Policy
Timberscombe Pre-School regards snack and meal times as an important part of the setting's day.
Eating represents a social time for children and adults. It helps children to learn about healthy
eating. At snack and meal times, we aim to provide nutritious food which meets the children's
individual dietary needs.
We have carried out the recommended self-audit of our food handling procedures.
We will give new staff guidance on food hygiene and preparation of food.
Our three main staff members, Anita Hutchings, Irene Bishop and Joanne Morton, have level 2
Food Hygiene Certificates.
The last Food Hygiene inspection (2016) gave the Pre School the top rating of 5. This means that
the Pre School was found, by the inspectors, to have “very good hygiene standards”.
We comply with the requirements of the EYFS Framework and will inform OFSTED, as soon as
possible, if any food poisoning affects two or more children looked after on the premises but in
any event within 14 days of the event occurring
Procedures
We follow these procedures to promote healthy eating in our setting:
 Before a child starts to attend the setting, we find out from parents their children's dietary
needs and preferences, including any allergies. All staff are aware of the 14 food allergens
listed in the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation 2014 and check food
ingredients against known allergies. (See Allergies Policy.)
 We record information about each child's dietary needs in her/his registration record and
parents sign the record to signify that it is correct.
 We implement systems to ensure that children receive only food and drink that is consistent
with their dietary needs and preferences as well as their parents' wishes.
 We organise snack times so that they are social occasions in which children and staff
participate.
 We use meal and snack times to help children to develop independence through making
choices, serving food and feeding themselves.
 We provide children with utensils that are appropriate for their ages and stages of
development and that take account of the eating practices in their cultures.
 We have fresh drinking water constantly available for the children. We show the children
how to obtain the water and tell them that they can ask for water at any time during the day.
 In order to protect children with food allergies, we discourage children from sharing and
swapping their food with one another.
 For children who drink milk, we provide semi skimmed milk.
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If we provide food:
We avoid large quantities of saturated fat, sugar and salt and artificial additives, preservatives
and colourings.
We include a variety of foods:
 dairy foods;
 grains, cereals and starch vegetables;
 fruit and vegetables.
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We include foods from the diet of each of the children's cultural backgrounds, providing
children with familiar foods and introducing them to new ones.
We take care not to provide food containing nuts or nut products and are especially vigilant
where we have a child who has a known allergy to nuts.
We ensure that food is within the correct date and not subject to contamination by pests,
rodents or mould.
We use reliable providers for the food we purchase.
Food will normally be prepared in the First School/Village Hall kitchen. Children do not
have unsupervised access to the kitchens.
Food preparation areas or boards are cleaned before and after use. Chopping boards are only
used for food. Raw meat or fish is not prepared by the Pre-School.
All surfaces are non-porous.
There are facilities for hand washing.
All utensils are clean and stored appropriately.
Food waste is disposed of daily.
Cleaning materials are stored out of children’s reach.
Staff wear an apron and gloves when serving food.
We check that hot food provided by the First School cook is still hot when served to the
children.
Packed lunches.
If the parents provide packed lunches we:
 Ensure perishable contents of packed lunches which are kept for longer than 4 hours are kept
in the fridge;
 Check daily that the temperature of the fridge is within the acceptable temperature range for
safe food storage.
 Inform parents of our policy on healthy eating;
 Encourage parents to provide sandwiches with a healthy filling, fruit, and milk based deserts
such as yoghurt or crème fraîche. We discourage sweet drinks and can provide children with
water or milk;
 Discourage packed lunch contents that consist largely of crisps, processed foods, sweet
drinks and sweet products such as cakes or biscuits;
 Ensure staff sit with children to eat their meals so that the mealtime is a social occasion.
When children take part in cooking activities in the Village Hall they are:
▪Supervised at all times.
▪Taught the importance of hand washing
▪Kept away from hot surfaces and hot water.
Signature of Chairperson...........................
Adopted by the committee on.................................