NUTRITIONAL standards in some schools are so low that children’s meals have only to be healthier than a greasy takeaway to be allowed onto the menu.

A survey by The Sunday Times suggests that local authorities are in disarray over how to check the nutritional value of school dinners. Sunderland council said it had established a test for a school meal that compared it with a deep-fried chip shop takeaway.

A statement from the council said: “Results showed the school meal offer to be the healthier option.”

The less-than-rigorous test at Sunderland, which encourages children to eat a balanced diet, is, however, better than that of some councils — Portsmouth, Derby, Nottinghamshire, Salford, Sandwell, Isle of Wight and Rutland all said they had done no nutritional assessments in the past two years.

Caterers say the regulations on nutritional value, which were introduced four years ago, are partly to blame for the confusion. The regulations do not even stipulate that fresh fruit and vegetables should be provided: instead caterers are allowed to offer tinned fruit or fruit salads.

Health experts say the rules are so lax that meals from McDonald’s could be served every day and still pass the nutritional requirements.

The low nutritional value of the nation’s school meals has been highlighted by the celebrity cook Jamie Oliver in his Channel 4 programme Jamie’s School Dinners in which he found some councils spending as little as 37p per pupil on ingredients.

The government has now said it will introduce tougher standards on nutrition. It is also to put extra money into new kitchens and staff training but has not disclosed how much.

The Sunday Times survey found that while some councils were conducting tough nutritional assessments of school dinners using sophisticated computer software, others were conducting no tests at all.

In Havering in east London a dietary analysis of the council’s schools’ food is conducted each term and menus must meet the guidelines of the Caroline Walker Trust, which has higher requirements than the government regulations and aims to improve public health by raising the quality of the nation’s food. Other councils are testing software to evaluate the dietary balance of school meals.

The Sunday Times survey also uncovered huge discrepancies in the amount of public money being used to subsidise school meals. Islington council in north London was among the authorities injecting most money into the school meals service — providing more than £250,000 in 2003-04 — but most other councils provide no subsidy at all for paid meals.

The Local Authority Caterers Association estimates that since 1994 more than £150m has been saved each year by cuts and greater efficiency in school catering budgets. None of the savings has been re- invested to improve meals.

Additional reporting: Chris Wyatt and Andrew White

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