A lot of work is being done in the country to improve the provision of nutrition. In this regard, a pilot project to find out the taste preferences of students was launched in 2022.

To date, more than 2,600 schools provide nutrition for their students. At the same time, according to the head of the department for organizing food at the Academy of Education, Lyutsiya Mikhalchuk, about 70 percent of children from 17 preferential categories shall be provided with free meals.

For those who pay for meals, the prices will remain the same as last year. Thus, for schoolchildren aged 6-10 and eating once a day, lunch will cost 2.29 - 2.98 rubles. For schoolchildren aged 11-18 the price is 2.70 - 3.51 rubles. It is necessary to understand that the cost depends on whether the dish is prepared by the school or other organizations: through school catering plants, public catering and trade organizations or the Belkoopsoyuz.

The representative of the Academy of Education also spoke about the equipment of school canteens. In this regard, technological and refrigeration equipment, dishwashers, kitchen and dining utensils were purchased. About 19 million rubles were spent on these purposes.

According to the director of the Minsk School Meals Plant Lyudmila Krupskaya, students especially need proper and nutritious food. For this purpose, schools have a wide range of lunch options, including a diet with or without soup.

The autumn two-week rations for Minsk schoolchildren included 67 items from the information collection of technological maps of dishes prepared by the Ministry of Education, and five signature dishes developed by the plant's specialists.

Among the new products from the School Meals Plant are poultry breast in sour cream sauce, herbal drink, "Balans" drink, pancakes with cottage cheese, pancakes with apple and cinnamon. In addition, dietary nutrition rations have been developed for certain categories of schoolchildren, including children suffering from diabetes, gluten intolerance and intolerance to certain food groups - milk, eggs, fish and citrus fruits.

The plant also holds special promotions on days when children are given unloved but healthy dishes, for examole “Empty plate” promotion. As a gift for completely eaten food the child receives branded chocolate and a lot of positive emotions, because an animated doll comes to visit.

In the new academic year, the standards for school meal recipes have been tightened. Alla Malakhova, Head of the Department of Hygiene for Children and Adolescents at the Republican Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health, reported that food products containing genetically modified organisms, apricot kernels, benzoic and sorbic acids, sweeteners, with the exception of specialized food products for dietary, therapeutic and prophylactic nutrition, artificial food flavors and flavoring agents, except for vanillin, are excluded. The listed components are often used in confectionery products, so the most stringent requirements will be imposed on their range.

Also, the amount of salt in bakery products in school canteens will be limited. By the way, in the past, the sugar norm in them was reduced by 20-25 percent. In addition, serious attention is paid to the fat content in products, which is due to the relevance of the problem of excess body weight in children and adolescents.

As for sausages and hot dogs, it will be served no more than once a week. Alla Malakhova is also convinced that the introduction of children's sauces is the right decision: "We were at school and saw that children were bringing sauces with them. That's why we said: better those produced or prepared by us and we will be sure it is a guarantee of quality and sauces are not from the child's pocket."

So far, Minsk has accepted such an initiative.

On the eve of the new academic year, we wish all students positive emotions, a great mood, to be active and purposeful on the path to knowledge!