Barrhead News | News | Subway set for schools?

Saturday, 22nd November, 2008

Published: Thursday, 2nd October, 2008 12:30

Subway set for schools?

By Amanda Keenan

BARRHEAD schoolchildren won’t have to eat boring school dinners if plans to introduce Subway outlets to schools gets the go ahead.

East Renfrewshire Council is currently negotiating with fast food chain Subway in a bid to stop kids eating unhealthy lunches. If negotiations are successful then it is hoped a kiosk will be set up in dinner halls to encourage kids not to leave the school to buy junk food.

It is thought to be the first move of its kind in Scotland but talks between the council and Subway bosses are still at a very early stage. And if plans do develop, the Connecticut-based chain will have to meet strict criteria to operate in schools.

A spokesman for East Renfrewshire council said: “We have had one meeting with Subway bosses to look at making the brand available to schoolkids at lunchtime. If plans progress Subway will have to alter their meals and we would be looking at a small kiosk being based next to the meal provision.

“School catering uptake is only 45 per cent but pupils are much more likely to eat healthily in school than by going to the fish and chip shop,”

“The reason for approaching the chain was to encourage schoolchildren to eat their meals in school, something they could not be forced to do by law.”

The council’s catering manager will meet Subway’s management in the coming months to develop a menu that would meet the Scottish Government’s requirements on issues such as salt and fat content.

A spokesman for Subway’s west of Scotland operation said: “Discussions are taking place to run a pilot scheme in one of East Renfrewshire’s six state-run secondaries, and the chain wants to move into other schools and into hospitals in the next year or year after”.

The move follows a similar strategy in the US, where the chain and its rivals already have outlets in hospitals, schools, convenience stores and motorway service stations. A final decision on the radical plans has yet to be made.

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