Headteachers have warned the Government that its campaign to ban junk food from schools by 2009 could put many pupils off school dinners altogether.

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, today unveiled a two-stage programme which will eventually see school dinners of Turkey Twizzlers, fizzy drinks and chips replaced with a balanced diet of good quality meat accompanied by fruit and vegetables.

Ministers have also announced plans to ban chocolate, crisps and pop from vending machines. Schools and vending firms will be expected to promote healthier snacks and drinks such as water, milk, fruit and yoghurt drinks.

Mr Johnson said that the measures would reverse the decades of neglect which inspired Jamie Oliver's high-profile campaign for better standards in school kitchens.

The move was welcomed by Jane Clarke, the Times nutritionist who advised the celebrity chef on his Feed Me Better campaign last year. But she added: "From my perspective - and I know Jamie would agree - we also have to see the Government deliver. They cannot just make this announcement and hope that we'll all go away."

Although teachers have welcomed the principles behind the canteen shake-up, Mick Brookes, general-secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned that such "gastronomic Puritanism" was likely to lead to children going to local chip shops instead.

Under the proposal, caterers must ensure that high quality meat, poultry or oily fish is available on a regular basis from September. Pupils must also be offered a minimum of two portions of fruit and vegetables while deep-fried food will be limited to two portions per week.

Foods that are high in salt and fat will be phased out until, by 2008, every primary school meal must reach stringent standards stipulating vitamin and mineral content. Secondary schools have been given more time to reach the target.

The cost of meals will be raised from as little as 41p to 50p per head in primary schools and 60p in secondaries. The Soil Association has said that this still falls short of the 70p minimum it believes is essential to ensure reasonable nutritional standards are met.

Mr Johnson said that the plan, which follows the findings of the million School Meals Review Panel set up in the wake of Mr Oliver's campaign last year, would stop children being fed "rubbish".

He said that the new choices in the canteen would be accompanied by a campaign to promote better nutrition, and was confident that the new menus would prove popular providing that they were "more attractive and healthier" to children.

The Education Secretary denied that schools would struggle to find contractors to cook the new healthier meals.

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