With the rising popularity of the “Prepared Meals Entering Campuses” topic, school cafeterias have once again become a focal point of concern for many parents. How do school cafeterias procure their ingredients? How is food safety managed? What are the standards for purchasing fresh ingredients? With these questions in mind, the author interviewed Metro, a service provider that supplies food distribution and ingredients to several schools, to gain insights into the current state and trends of campus food from the perspective of a third-party service provider.
Fresh Ingredients Remain the Mainstream in Campus Food Procurement
School cafeterias are a special catering market because their consumers are mainly children. The state also imposes stringent controls on campus food safety. As early as February 20, 2019, the Ministry of Education, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Health Commission jointly issued the “Regulations on School Food Safety and Nutritional Health Management,” which stipulate strict regulations on the management of school cafeterias and external food purchases. Par exemple, “School cafeterias should establish a food safety traceability system, accurately and completely record and retain information on food procurement inspection, ensuring food traceability.”
“According to the campuses served by Metro, they strictly implement the ‘Regulations on School Food Safety and Nutritional Health Management,’ with very stringent requirements for ingredients. They require fresh, transparent, and traceable ingredients with complete, effective, and quickly accessible test reports, along with a sound certificate/ticket/archive management system to ensure food safety certification traceability,” stated the relevant person in charge of Metro’s public business. “Under such high standards, it is difficult for prepared meals to meet the requirements of campus cafeterias.”
Based on the campuses served by Metro, fresh ingredients remain the mainstream in campus food procurement. For instance, in the past three years, fresh pork and vegetables have accounted for over 30% of Metro’s supplies. The top ten fresh food items (fresh pork, vegetables, fruits, refrigerated dairy products, fresh beef and lamb, eggs, fresh poultry, rice, live aquatic products, and frozen poultry) collectively account for a whopping 70% of the supply.
In fact, food safety incidents in individual school cafeterias are not widespread, and parents need not be overly concerned. School cafeterias also have clear requirements for purchasing external food. Par exemple, “School cafeterias should establish a procurement inspection record system for food, food additives, and food-related products, accurately recording the name, specification, quantity, production date or batch number, shelf life, procurement date, and the name, address, and contact information of the supplier, and retain the relevant vouchers containing the above information. The retention period for procurement inspection records and related vouchers should be no less than six months after the product’s shelf life expires; if there is no clear shelf life, the retention period should be no less than two years. The retention period for records and vouchers of edible agricultural products should be no less than six months.”
To meet the “stringent” procurement requirements and standards of campus cafeterias, Metro has been developing traceability systems for high-volume sales items such as fruits, vegetables, aquatic products, and meat for more than a decade. To date, they have developed over 4,500 traceable products.
“By scanning the barcode, you can know the growth process of this batch of apples, the specific orchard location, the area of the orchard, soil conditions, and even the grower’s information. You can also see the processing process of the apples, from planting, picking, selecting, packaging, to transportation, all traceable,” explained the relevant person in charge of Metro’s public business.
De plus, during the interview, the temperature control in Metro’s fresh food area left a deep impression on the reporter. The entire area is kept at a very low temperature to ensure maximum freshness and safety of the ingredients. Different storage temperatures are strictly controlled and differentiated for different products: refrigerated products must be kept between 07°C, frozen products must be between -21°C and -15°C, and fruits and vegetables must be between 010°C. In fact, from suppliers to Metro’s distribution center, from the distribution center to Metro’s stores, and finally to customers, Metro has strict standards to ensure the safety and integrity of the entire cold chain.
School Cafeterias Are More Than Just “Filling Up”
The emphasis on fresh ingredient procurement in school cafeterias is due to nutritional health considerations. Students are in a critical period of physical development, and they eat more frequently at school than at home. School cafeterias play an important role in ensuring children’s nutritional intake.
On June 9, 2021, the Ministry of Education, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Health Commission, and the General Administration of Sport of China jointly issued the “Guidelines for the Construction of Nutrition and Health Schools,” which specifically states in Article 27 that each meal provided to students should include three or more of the four categories of food: grains, tubers, and legumes; vegetables and fruits; aquatic products, livestock and poultry, and eggs; dairy and soy products. The variety of food should reach at least 12 types per day and at least 25 types per week.
Nutritional health depends not only on the diversity and richness of the ingredients but also on their freshness. Nutritional research indicates that the freshness of ingredients significantly affects their nutritional value. Unfresh ingredients not only result in nutrient loss but can also harm the body. Par exemple, fresh fruits are important sources of vitamins (vitamin C, carotene, B vitamins), minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium), and dietary fiber. The nutritional value of unfresh fruits, such as cellulose, fructose, and minerals, is compromised. If they spoil, they not only lose nutritional value but can also cause gastrointestinal discomfort, such as diarrhea and abdominal pain, which is detrimental to health.
“From our service experience, kindergartens have higher requirements for fresh ingredients than general schools because young children have higher nutritional needs, and parents are more sensitive and concerned,” explained the relevant person in charge of Metro’s public business. It is reported that kindergarten clients account for nearly 70% of Metro’s services. When asked about Metro’s specific procurement standards, the relevant person in charge used the acceptance standards for fresh meat as an example: rear leg meat must be fresh, red, with no more than 30% fat; front leg meat must be fresh, red and shiny, with no odor, no blood spots, and no more than 30% fat; belly meat must have no more than two-finger-width of fat, no more than four-finger thickness, and no belly skin; triple meat must have three clear lines and no more than three-finger thickness; secondary meat must be fresh with no more than 20% fat; and tenderloin must be tender, non-watered, with no tail piece, and no attached fat.
Another set of data from Metro shows the high standards kindergartens have for fresh procurement: “Kindergarten clients account for 17% of Metro’s fresh pork purchases, with nearly four purchases per week. En plus, vegetable purchases also account for 17%.” From Metro’s introduction, we can see why they have become a long-term stable food supplier for many schools and kindergartens: “Adhering to the ‘from farm to market’ quality assurance throughout, starting from planting and breeding farms, ensuring high standards at the source of the supply chain.”
“We have 200 à 300 audit requirements for suppliers; a supplier must undergo multiple evaluations to pass the audit that covers the entire process from planting, breeding, to harvesting,” the relevant person in charge of Metro’s public business explained.
The controversy over “prepared meals entering campuses” arises because they currently cannot fully meet the food safety and nutritional health needs of campus dining. This demand, in turn, drives food-related industry chain companies to provide specialized, refined, unique, and new services, giving rise to professional institutions like Metro. Schools and educational institutions that choose professional suppliers like Metro serve as exemplary models for those unable to ensure cafeteria nutrition and safety.
