Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson tells parents common sense trumps guidelines when packing school lunches

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has weighed into the debate around healthy eating for kids, telling parents that common sense should trump guidelines when it comes to packing their child’s school lunchbox. In a social media post on Monday Ms Sanderson posted a picture of a child’s lunch box with the heading “no ham and cheese toasties!?” in an apparent reference to the media storm that erupted after The West revealed the school canteen favourite had been banished to a list of restricted foods under new Health Department guidelines. “If you’re like me and have a fussy eater, the school lunch box is a challenge!” the post said. “Guidelines are good but common sense is better — it’s important to encourage kids to eat healthy but there is so much pressure on parents — giving them something they will eat is also good!” Ms Sanderson added the post script: “Whatever I put in it usually comes home uneaten.” The reclassification of a raft of food and drink items in the school canteen traffic light system has caused consternation in schools for relegating ham to the same red-light category as junk food. Adding to the confusion is the addition of a new “selected red” category which means some hams that meet strict criteria can still be used but must be limited to two days a week. The changes are based on WA’s new School Food and Drink Criteria, produced by the Health Department. A Health Department fact sheet states that most amber-rated discretionary foods — including processed red meat such as ham —were being reclassified as red “to reduce children’s exposure to junk food in schools”. Evidence cited for the change was the 2015 World Health Organisation decision to classify ham and other processed meats as a group one carcinogen, known to cause cancer. The changes to school canteen recommendations do not apply to lunch boxes brought from home.