Nursery food standards face review (From Northwich Guardian)

Nursery food standards face review

6:20am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in National News © Press Association 2011

The Government is set to announce a review of food standards in nurseries as ministers launch a fresh pre-election assault on the Tories over their plans for Sure Start centres.

The intense jockeying for position by the parties means measures to ensure the under-fives are eating healthily are accompanied by a highly political attack on what Labour says are the Tories' plans to cut the Sure Start budget.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls will mark the opening of the 3,500th Sure Start centre in England on Tuesday with a claim that the Conservatives would cut funding by £200 million, which could force one in five centres to close.

At the same time, he will launch a campaigning website to support the Sure Start programme backed by celebrity mother Michelle Collins, Jo Brand and Arabella Weir.

"By cutting Sure Start and rolling back Labour's child trust fund and tax credits, David Cameron's Conservatives are demonstrating they haven't changed," Mr Balls said.

"When families take a long, hard look at the Tories they can see that they have the wrong policies for children and the wrong priorities for our country."

Meanwhile the Government will announce the formation of a new advisory panel on whether children attending nurseries are getting healthy, balanced and nutritious food.

The panel is chaired by Dr Anthony Williams, reader in child nutrition and consultant paediatrics at St George's University of London.

Among the issues it will consider is whether there is a case for strengthened or mandatory standards to bring nurseries more in line with those operating in schools.

Its findings are due to be published in August in time to feed into a wider review of the early years foundation stage which begins in September.