LABOUR is to draw up a hit list of unhealthy foods to be banned from school dinner menus. Legislation to be passed if the party wins the election will stop school canteens serving foods high in fat and salt including sausages, hamburgers and some brands of fish fingers.

Chips are expected to survive the cull because health experts believe they are safe to eat in moderation alongside salads, particularly if they are a low-fat brand.

The new rules will be introduced simultaneously in Scotland and in England and Wales.

Until now ministers have resisted banning particular types of food, instead insisting that canteens should provide healthy alternatives. Canteen staff are already advised to serve garlic bread and processed meat products such as hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers, meatballs, chicken nuggets and sausage rolls just once a week.

However there are concerns that private catering contractors appear to be dragging their heels because of the higher costs involved. Labour is under pressure to act following pressure from Jamie Oliver’s successful television campaign for healthier school dinners.

The government’s £60m school food trust, announced in February, will give staff support and advice on improving meals. It will also be backed by legislation. The trust’s team of food experts will draw up a hit list of prohibited processed foods linked to obesity, ill health and bad behaviour.

Government inspectors will begin to check up on schools after autumn next year — and any caught flouting the rules will be ordered to change their menus.

Some schools have been threatened with financial penalties if they try to opt out of local education authority contracts with private catering companies in order to ditch junk food.

But Labour claims schools will be allowed to draw on a £60m fund to “buy out” contracts if catering companies are unwilling to drop cheap unhealthy foods.

“We wouldn’t be issuing diktats instantly to every school and we wouldn’t expect all of the money for schools to be swallowed up in buying out contracts, but these are there as last resorts,” said a party spokesman.

“We will have these sticks if it becomes a problem. It’s about making sure there are healthy options available so children are not forced to go to the chip shop for a hot meal.

“We also think you get better behaved kids in the afternoon if they have a hot meal at lunch time. If they eat food with too much sugar they go bananas — and if they don’t eat properly at lunchtime they can get tetchy.”

The move comes as it has emerged that children as young as four are being treated for diabetes caused by obesity.

Dr Charles Clark, an expert on the condition who is based in Edinburgh, is treating two children a month who are suffering from Type 2 diabetes. The illness, which can cause heart disease, blindness and kidney failure, normally strikes in middle age.

His youngest patient was a four-year-old girl whose body mass index was three times the average for a child her age. Her parents took her to Clark’s private weight management clinic after several failed attempts to help her lose weight.

Clark believes her diabetes was caused by a diet based almost entirely on refined carbohydrates such as rice and pasta and very little protein.

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