Frequently asked questions

No, the Smart Choices Strategy applies to all situations where food and drink is supplied in the school environment. This includes vending machines, school excursions, school camps, fundraising, classroom rewards, school events such as celebrations and sports days, and food used in curriculum activities.

Yes, birthday cakes can still be brought to school on a child's birthday. This is because these foods are brought from home. The Smart Choices Strategy only applies to foods and drinks supplied by the school.

No, it does not apply to foods and drinks brought from home. While schools may wish to encourage healthy eating practices, the decision about the types of foods and drinks contained in a child's lunchbox is entirely a matter for individual parents.

Yes. The implementation of Smart Choices is mandatory in Queensland state schools and strongly encouraged for non-state schools.

Yes, the Smart Choices Strategy is mandatory for all state schools in Queensland - primary, secondary and special schools.

Students living as residents at boarding school receive the majority of their daily food and drink intake from these facilities, so it is important they have access to healthy food required for growth, to maintain a healthy weight and to prevent the development of chronic diseases.

In order to provide optimum nutrition to students at boarding school, the food and drinks provided should be consistent with the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Australian Dietary Guidelines. While Smart Choices is consistent with these guidelines it is preferable that boarding schools use these broader guidelines which outline the recommended serves from the five food groups to meet the daily energy and nutrient requirements of children and young people, rather than focusing solely on the requirements of the Smart Choices strategy.

An occasion is any instance where food or drink is supplied to students by the school. Supply includes the offering for sale of food or drink to students.

Two occasions per term applies to the maximum number of times per term that a school is permitted to supply foods or drinks from the RED category.

It doesn't mean that each food or drink from the RED category can be supplied twice per term. It means that one or more of the RED foods or drinks can be supplied on two designated occasions per term.

It is very important that children and young people eat a wide variety of foods from the five basic food groups to ensure that their bodies get all the nutrients they need for growth and development.

By limiting foods and drinks from the RED category to no more than two occasions per term, healthier foods and drinks will be promoted as better choices to the whole school community.

Compared to children, young people have higher needs for energy and nutrients during rapid growth and development.

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends that young people meet their higher nutrient needs by eating more foods from the five food groups: grain (cereal) foods - mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties; vegetables and legumes/beans; fruit; milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives - mostly reduced fat; and lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans.

Smart Choices should be applied to all school swimming clubs, regardless of whether the school is using their own school pool or an outside pool to conduct these regular events. All foods and drinks supplied at these events should be from the GREEN or AMBER categories. If RED foods or drinks are supplied to students (e.g. through sale at the canteen), then the event would need to be counted as one of the two occasions per term when RED foods and drinks may be supplied.

The Queensland Association of School Tuckshops (QAST) can provide suggestions for healthy canteen options to both schools and outside organisations.

Smart Choices should be applied to all individual school swimming carnivals, regardless of whether the school is using their own school pool or an outside pool. All foods and drinks supplied at these events should be from the GREEN or AMBER categories. If RED foods or drinks are supplied to students (e.g. through sale at the canteen), then the event would need to be counted as one of the two occasions per term when RED foods and drinks may be supplied.

The Queensland Association of School Tuckshops (QAST) can provide suggestions for healthy canteen options to both schools and outside organisations.

As part of their accreditation process all Out of School Hours Care services must provide a written nutrition policy that was developed/revised in consultation with families and is consistent with advice from recognised nutrition authorities. This nutrition policy would reflect the intent of Smart Choices which is to supply healthy food and drink options to students. Services may wish to use the Smart Choices strategy to inform the development of their nutrition policy. When developing fundraising activities, OSHC run by P&C associations should consider activities that support the healthy eating messages being given across the school environment.

The Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and NAQ Nutrition have a range of resources and services available to help tuckshops such as fact sheets, newsletters, buyers guides, advisory service, and trade expos.

More information is available from QAST or on (07) 3324 1511 or NAQ Nutrition.

Foods and drinks in the AMBER category are not restricted in how often they can be supplied. However, as these foods and drinks are mainly processed, with some sugar, salt or fat added to them, they shouldn't dominate the menu at the expense of healthier choices. It is recommended that you limit the serving size of AMBER foods and drinks and choose products that contain reduced levels of saturated fat, salt or sugar when compared to regular products. Schools may choose to limit the supply of some AMBER foods to only certain days of the week.

Food cooked at home and offered for sale through the tuckshop needs to be consistent with the Green and Amber categories of Smart Choices.

While it is not an encouraged practice to be providing home cooked food in tuckshops there are instances where this may be necessary and safe practices need to be complied with in the preparation and transporting of food items.

The types of foods which might be cooked at home and sometimes provided for sale through the school tuckshop include baked products like muffins, and dishes such as lasagne, stir-fries, fried rice, chilli con carne, savoury mince, and curries.

As food is being prepared at home and not part of a commercial business, it is not an expectation that home cooked food is nutritionally analysed.

To ensure that foods are consistent with Smart Choices schools can:

• provide suggestions to parents/caregivers of the types of products they wish to sell in the tuckshop
• include products that fall into the Green category in the list of suggestions (eg. scones, fruit salad)
• provide recipes, including ideas on modifying recipes to make them healthier
  
• serve home cooked products such as cakes and slices in small serving sizes
• serve home cooked products without adding extras such as jam, cream or ice-cream
• provide information on food safety.

Yes, schools and parents/caregivers should be aware of food safety in relation to selling food cooked from home. All food must be handled to ensure it is safe for sale; this includes preparation, cooking, storage and transportation. Hot savoury dishes are high risk foods compared to baked products such as cakes and biscuits and need to be handled carefully.

The overseer of the food business is responsible for ensuring the sale of safe food; this will be the tuckshop convenor in most cases. More advice on food safety can be found on the Queensland Health website.

Food rewards provided to students must comply with the Smart Choices Strategy, including food vouchers. Activities and rewards consistent with the strategy will also support the school curriculum.

Rewarding with confectionery or sugar sweetened drinks sends the wrong message and reinforces the RED foods which are already being consumed frequently and excessively by children and young people. Use other rewards such as certificates and recognition in school newsletters.

Yes, food and drinks used for fundraising events must comply with the 'Occasional' RED food and drink criteria outlined in the strategy.

As chocolates and most pies would fall into the Red category they could only be used if the fundraising event was one of the two designated occasions during the term.

Schools are encouraged to consider fundraising options that promote health and wellbeing. These could include seasonal fruits eg. mangoes, freeze dried fruits, toothbrushes, healthy food cookbooks, sunblock, nursery products. 

It is often assumed that students will not buy healthier food and drinks from the tuckshop, and as a result it will lose business. However, students will buy healthy food and drinks when available, when they are promoted well, and when they have been involved in the decisions about what is sold. Students will keep coming back to the tuckshop if the food looks and tastes great.

There are many healthier alternatives to foods in the RED category that tuckshops can sell. Vending machines stocking water, fruit juice, milk and healthy snacks will still make a profit.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) classifies food and drinks based on tax law to determine if the food is eligible to include the Good and Services Tax (GST). This classification system used by the ATO does not include specific nutrient criteria.

The Smart Choices Strategy classifies food and drink as Green, Amber or Red according to specific nutrition criteria. The ATO GST classification and the Smart Choices nutrient classification are mutually exclusive. That is food and drinks may be classified under different food categories in each system.

Confectionery includes chocolates, carob and yoghurt based confectionery, and all types of lollies such as boiled lollies, cough lollies, liquorice, lollies made from fruit juice, and jelly lollies. All confectionery falls into the RED category of the Smart Choices Food and Drink Spectrum.

Foods containing confectionery (such as chocolate chip cookies), muffins or snack bars also fall into the RED category.

These lollies contain minimal nutritional value. Smart Choices includes examples of good sources of milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives, and fruit; e.g. one 200g tub of reduced fat yoghurt, one piece of fruit or cup of fruit juice.

Water and plain milk are the healthiest drinks for children and young people and should be readily available and promoted in schools.

Yes, under the Smart Choices strategy full-fat milk products are classified as Amber products and are therefore not limited in their supply in schools, but should be selected carefully. Reduced-fat plain milk is classified as Green under Smart Choices and is a healthier choice for children. The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that the consumption of reduced fat milk products is encouraged in children over two years of age to reduce saturated fat intake.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines and the National Healthy School Canteens Guidelines (NHSC) recommend that sugar-sweetened and intensely sweetened drinks such as soft drinks, flavoured waters, vitamin/nutrient waters, sports drinks, fruit drinks with less that 99% juice and iced tea, are limited to occasional consumption. These drinks are low in nutritional value and may provide excess energy (kilojoules). These drinks fit into the Red category of the Smart Choices food and drink spectrum and their supply is limited to no more than two occasions per term.

The only drinks to be supplied in schools are plain unflavoured water (still, spring or sparkling), milk (plain or flavoured, full-fat or reduced fat) and at least 99% non-carbonated fruit or vegetable juice (without additional flavouring). Coffee style milk products should not be supplied in primary schools.

Plain water and reduced-fat plain milk fit into the Green category of the Smart Choices food and drink spectrum. Full-fat plain milk, all flavoured milks and at least 99% fruit or vegetable juice (non-carbonated), fit into the Amber category.

Only fruit or vegetable juice which is at least 99% juice and is not carbonated is permitted to be supplied in schools. These juices fit into the Amber category of the Smart Choices food and drink spectrum. The maximum serving size is 250mL. Fuit drinks DO need to be assessed against the Occasional (Red) food and drink criteria table. One serving needs to contain less than 300 kilojoules and 100mg of sodium to fit in the Amber category. It is recommended that the serving size of fruit drinks is limited to 250mls or less, however, depending on the ingredients used, some large serving sizes may still fit into the Amber category - check the label against the Occasional (Red) food and drink criteria table. Drinks containing artificial sweeteners fit into the Red category regardless of their energy (kilojoule) content or serving size.

A serving is the size of the food or drink as sold or provided. It refers specifically to the pack size as sold or provided. This may be different to the serving size listed on the nutrition information panel.