As you may already be aware the Healthy Eating Regulations 2025 will come into force on 31st October 2026. The updated regulations strengthen food and drink standards in maintained nursery and primary schools across Wales and align provision more closely with the latest nutritional guidance. We have today published anticipated final statutory guidance to go alongside the regulations to aid catering providers on how to meet the new standards.
Promotion of Healthy Eating and Drinking Statutory Guidance
We have also published updated guidance on the promotion of healthy eating and drinking in maintained schools.
This guidance supports the Welsh Government’s commitment to improve health and well-being for all learners. Promoting healthy eating and drinking helps create a positive school environment where learners can thrive physically, emotionally and academically. Schools contribute to reducing health inequalities and fostering lifelong healthy habits by embedding these principles across policies, practices and the curriculum.
The purpose of this guidance is to clarify statutory duties under the Measure and to support local authorities, governing bodies and their partners in fulfilling those duties. To ensure healthy eating and drinking are consistently promoted across all maintained schools the guidance sets out roles and expectations, provides practical advice and highlights good practice.
Portion Size Support
To further support implementation, Welsh Government and Larder Cymru/Menter Mon are also working closely with key partners to develop clear, practical resources on junior and infant portion sizes. This collaborative work aims to ensure that schools and catering providers have consistent, evidence‑based tools that reflect the nutritional needs of younger learners and align with the Healthy Eating Regulations 2025. These resources will provide practical guidance to help catering teams confidently plan, prepare and serve age‑appropriate portions across maintained nursery and primary settings.
Free sugar
Following feedback received on the support needed to implement the Healthy Eating Regulations 2025, we are pleased to inform you that we have recruited a Registered Nutritionist, Susan Church, to provide dedicated free sugar analysis support to all catering teams across Wales from the 1st of April. Susan will also be working alongside her colleague and experienced Registered Nutritionist, Aliya Porter.
Susan and Aliya are there to support catering teams to accurately calculate free sugars as part of school menu analysis. This work forms a key part of the transition from assessing NME sugars to calculating and assessing free sugars, ensuring that all catering teams are fully prepared to meet the necessary requirement arising from the Healthy Eating Regulations 2025.
Susan and Aliya are there to build capacity and confidence across catering teams, specifically including:
- undertaking free sugar analysis of products / ingredients within maintained nursery and primary school menus, for use within nutritional analysis systems.
- Consideration of opportunities for product development and innovative menu changes that help reduce overall free‑sugar consumption.
Populating a national product database providing catering teams with accurate information on free sugar content in the foods to eventually enable school caterers to independently calculate free sugars independently in future menu cycles.
