Healthy Canteen Kit

Back to:

'Select Carefully' Category (Amber Foods)

Hamburger and juice

Not all foods and drinks sit within the Everyday or Occasionally categories. In between are a range of foods and drinks that contain some valuable nutrients but may also have some unhealthy ingredients. These foods are included in the Select Carefully category.

Examples of foods and drinks in this category include:

  • full-fat dairy foods – milk, yoghurt and cheese
  • processed meats
  • commercially prepared hot foods
  • margarines, oils, spreads, sauces and gravies
    • Checklist for select carefully goods
  • snack food bars (for example, breakfast bars, cereal bars, fruit bars)
  • cakes, muffins, sweet biscuits and slices
  • savoury snack foods and biscuits
  • low or reduced-fat ice-creams, milk-based ice confections and dairy desserts
  • ice blocks and ice slushees based on 100 per cent fruit juice
  • drinks – 100 per cent fruit juices, some moderate-kilojoule sports waters
  • artificially sweetened drinks
  • some breakfast cereals (with added sugars and/or saturated fats and low fibre).

Foods and drinks on canteen-registered product buyer guides generally fall into the Select Carefully category. These foods should be selected carefully because they:

  • are moderate in added fat and/or sugar and/or salt
  • contribute to excess kilojoules if consumed in large serve sizes
  • provide some nutritional value.

Refer to the Food Guide Tables (PDF - 328Kb) (on pages 16–24 in the Healthy Canteen Kit - Food Planner) for more information on foods and drinks in the Select Carefully category.

Note: Some of the food types listed above may fit into either the Select Carefully category or the Occasionally category. Read the labels and assess against the nutrient criteria for Occasionally foods. (Refer to page 13 in the Healthy Canteen Kit - Food Planner).

To help avoid large serve sizes:

  • consider appropriate serve sizes for primary and secondary students – have ‘mini’ options and half-serves for lower primary-aged students
  • limit juice and flavoured milk serves (refer to the Food Guide Tables (PDF - 328Kb) on pages 16–24 in the Healthy Canteen Kit - Food Planner)
  • take serve sizes into consideration when packing, preparing and serving foods

Note: many food companies are now starting to offer child-appropriate serve sizes.

Checklist for Select Carefully foods

  • Do not let these foods and drinks dominate the menu.
  • Avoid large serve sizes.
  • Reduce the number of these foods on the canteen menu.
  • Offer these foods only on certain days of the week or limit selling time.
  • Select healthier choices within this category.
  • Select choices of these foods that contain fruits and/or vegetables or serve with fruits and/or vegetables.
  • Do not promote vigorously at the expense of foods and drinks from the Everyday category.

 

More information

For more information about types of foods commonly sold in school canteens and where they fit into the food categories view the Food Guide Tables (PDF - 328Kb) from the Healthy Canteen Kit – Food Planner.

To view the food planner as a complete document, see: Download Healthy Canteen Kit