Mykolaiv's State Food and Consumer Service proposed to train cooks after parents' complaints about the quality of food in schools

In Mykolaiv, following complaints from parents about school meals, it was proposed to train additional cooks. Photo: NikVesti

On Thursday, 11 September, a meeting was held at the Mykolaiv Education Department following complaints from schoolchildren's parents about the quality of free meals in educational institutions. The meeting proposed a list of actions to improve the situation.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv City Council.

Heads of schools with basic kitchens and cafeterias spoke about the problems with catering. According to them, the number of children receiving free lunches has increased, and due to air raids, the food is getting cold.

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«The number of children receiving meals has increased, the production capacity of canteens has remained at the pre-war level, air raids negate meal schedules, and the food is getting cold,» the statement said.

The directors add that the children are not used to the menu based on Yevhen Klopotenko's recipes. As a result, there are many uneaten meals, especially vegetable salads. The students also complain that the meals are unsalted, the drinks are unsweetened, and the temperature is not always maintained during delivery.

To solve these problems, the meeting discussed replacing some dishes on the menu, other ways of cooking vegetables, improving the taste of the dishes and maintaining the temperature of the food during delivery.

Larysa Burdenko, Head of the Department of State Supervision over Compliance with Sanitary Legislation at the Main Directorate of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv Oblast, suggested that additional training for cooks should be provided. She also stressed that meals should be prepared according to unified technological maps, and school managers should keep records of food leftovers and make changes to menus in consultation with the State Food and Consumer Service.

In addition, it is recommended to use marmites and thermoboxes to maintain the temperature of the finished dishes.

«Thanks to joint efforts, the quality of school meals should become better», the city council said in a statement.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

Earlier, parents of Mykolaiv schoolchildren expressed dissatisfaction with free meals on social media. According to them, the portions were smaller than normal, the meals were served cold, and the dishes in the school canteens were dirty.

Petro Vashniak, director of the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv educational institutions, said he had personally checked the situation, in particular at school 41, where parents complained about the amount of food on the plate. According to him, the portions were in line with the standards, and in the photo, part of the dish was hidden — for example, a chicken nugget was lying on top of potatoes.

This is how children are fed in Mykolaiv schools, and 14 million hryvnias will be spent from the budget by the end of the year, photo: Hanna Shevchenko

Later, the State Food and Consumer Service of Mykolaiv stated that they had not received any complaints about poor quality food in the city's school canteens.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, responded to parents' complaints by saying that a special commission would be set up in the city with representatives of the city council to monitor the situation.

Following the incident, the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv Oblast checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

It is known that in the new school year, all pupils from grades 1 to 11 will be provided with free meals in Mykolaiv schools. The funding for meals will be shared: up to 70% of the costs will be covered by the state, and the rest by the city budget.

It should be noted that at the last session, the deputies of Mykolaiv City Council reallocated the city budget, including 14 million hryvnias for meals for children in the city's schools.

As a reminder, it was planned to spend 146.2 million hryvnias on meals for children in Mykolaiv schools by the end of this year. Earlier it was reported that school meals would rise in price from 1 September.