World meat industry news

Contracts with school meal providers will have to take into consideration the national, confessional, and local nutrition features of the population in different regions of Russia. This is stated by government decree No. 498 that entered into force on May 1, 2023.

The document relates to standard primary, secondary, and high school feeding contracts.

“The supreme executive organs of the subjects of the Russian Federation are recommended to take measures ensuring implementation of standard terms of school meal contracts by the customer services … taking into consideration demographic profiles and national, confessional, and local nutrition features of the population,” the document says.

National dishes have been included in school menus in Bashkiria, Tatarstan, the Kuban, Ingushetia, and Chechnya. This is according to Elena Zlenko, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management, as she told The Parliamentary Newspaper. According to the newspaper, venison and northern fish nuggets are offered to schoolchildren in Yakutia.

Besides that, the decree prescribes that the contract contain approved menus for different age groups as well as individual menus for children that need medical or dietary nutrition.  

“Hot meals can’t be removed from the menus,” specifies the document.

Besides that, there is a clause establishing a procedure for the selection and storage of a daily sample from each batch of general meals.