National Healthy School Canteens Project Training Program 1 Program Briefing
Basis for Food and Drink Selection
Up to Nutrition and Healthy Eating
The food categorisation system and how it works
This classification system is a two tiered approach. Foods and drinks are either ‘in’ (may be sold in the school canteen) or ‘out’ (should not be sold in the school canteen). Foods and drinks that are ‘in’ are further divided into Green and Amber.
Green category – Foods and drinks that are consistent with forming the base of our diets (i.e. ‘on the plate’) according to the AGTHE (DoHA 1998). These foods and drinks may be sold in school canteens and do not require any further assessment.
Amber category – Foods and drinks in this category are either assessed against Nutrient Criteria or modified in some way before sale in school canteens. If a food or drink does not meet the criteria it is categorised as Red.
Red category – These foods and drinks should not be sold in healthy school canteens.
You will notice that there is no distinct line between foods categorised as Green and Amber. This is because there are many foods (mostly combined foods, such as sandwiches, pizza, sushi etc.) that will not fit clearly into the Green or Amber category. This is what the term ‘traffic light spectrum’ refers to. The emphasis in the NHSC categorisation system is to move foods categorised as Amber closer to the Green end of the spectrum at every opportunity. For example: add salad vegetables to sandwiches and main dishes such as bolognaise and pasta bakes.