The results of parental monitoring at Kindergarten 14 (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) showed that all types of food purchased by the school were 3-4 times higher than supermarket prices.
Kindergarten 14 (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: MINH GIANG
On October 24, Kindergarten 14 in Tan Binh District had 358 students having lunch and afternoon snack. The list of food for lunch and afternoon snack that day showed that the school used a total of 27 types of spices, vegetables, and food.
It is noteworthy that the school uses a lot of salt and sugar.
Price is 3-4 times higher
According to the market ticket on October 24, the school bought 8kg of red tilapia, 9kg of lean meat, and 1.5kg of beef. The school served eel porridge to the students for lunch, but the school only bought 2.5kg of eel.
Notably, the price of food purchased by the school is much higher than that of the supermarket. Parents comparing the price purchased by the school and the retail price of Co.opmart supermarket show that the price purchased by the school is many times higher (see table).
Not only processed foods, but also dry and packaged foods that companies buy and resell such as sugar, salt, cooking oil, and vegetables are also much more expensive than supermarkets.
Talking to us, Ms. Huynh Thi Phuong Thao, principal of Kindergarten 14, said that the school's food is currently provided by two companies, including Tri Duc Clean Food Company Limited providing ingredients for breakfast, and Phu Hung Vegetable and Food Company Limited providing ingredients for lunch.
Talking about the reason for choosing these two companies, the school board said that at the beginning of the school year, many companies came to introduce food supply. However, the school met and found that these two companies had the most legal status and the most stable prices among the companies, so the school decided to choose them.
Explaining the high price of food, Ms. Thao said that the school also realized the high price but there were many legal and personnel regulations that made it difficult for the school to do otherwise.
According to Ms. Thao, food suppliers must be in the chain of companies that ensure food safety. The school also asked a supermarket that was also on this list, but they did not issue red invoices, did not sign contracts, and paid for purchases on the same day.
"Food in the market is cheap, but the school cannot buy it because of food safety and origin issues. The school also does not have enough people to do this.
The school accepts purchases from these companies because they ensure food safety regulations, and the fresh food is pre-processed to help the kitchen staff prepare meals for the students in time. The fish is filleted and priced based on the weight after removing the bones.
In addition, these companies sign contracts and allow payment after many months of using the product, not immediately," Ms. Thao added.
Too much sugar
On October 24, the school kitchen used 8kg of white sugar, 1kg of iodized salt, 3 liters of fish sauce, 2 liters of fish oil, 1.5 liters of vegetable oil, and 28kg of rice. At noon, the school used 2kg of powdered milk and in the morning, 7kg of powdered milk.
So the total weight of powdered milk the school gave the students was 9kg, the amount of sugar and salt the students ate that day was also 9kg, not to mention 3 liters of fish sauce. So the amount of salt and sugar that the students ate every day was more than the milk!
It is worth mentioning that the amount of sugar and salt that Kindergarten 14 feeds students every day is much higher than the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City. In 2022, the Ministry of Education and Training approved guidelines for organizing school meals. The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City implemented these guidelines for schools.
Guidelines for menus that limit sugar and salt use. Sugar intake should not exceed 15g/student/day, salt intake should not exceed 3g/day for children under 5 years old.
With the amount of sugar and fish sauce used in this school's processing, on average most students (except for 11 malnourished students and children who eat little and drink milk at noon) drink 19.6g of milk per day while eating up to 22.3g of sugar, 2.8g of salt and 8.6ml of fish sauce per day.
According to the school's grocery shopping slip for 5 days: October 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28, only on October 21 did the school use 5kg of sugar, the remaining days the amount of sugar, salt, fish sauce and cooking oil was the same.
Compare the price of food the school bought from the market list on October 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 with the price at Co.opmart supermarket
Dangerous if eating too much sugar and salt
Dr. Lam Vinh Nien - Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City - generally stated that if children are growing and eat a lot of sugar and salt in a day, it will have a negative impact on their health.
This expert cited: "If children eat a lot of sugar, it creates a feeling of fullness, so they tend to eat less healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains... because they are always full. Not to mention eating a lot of sugar causes tooth decay, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Eating too much salt can increase blood pressure, creating a habit of eating salty foods that can cause illness in organs such as the kidneys, due to increased activity to regulate salt out of the body. It is especially important to note that for children under 2 years old, their diet should not contain added sugar.
Supermarket providing food delivery to school
On October 28, speaking with Tuoi Tre, a media representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op) said that Saigon Co.op is currently providing food to schools in Ho Chi Minh City.
"There are two types of food supply. If it is processed food, usually only large supermarkets provide it. Because large supermarkets have enough scale, human resources, and the supermarkets calculate the location to be convenient for traveling to schools.
For example, Co.opmart Cong Quynh (District 1); Co.opmart Huynh Tan Phat (District 7), Co.opXtra Linh Trung, Co.opXtra Pham Van Dong (Thu Duc City)... Schools located near large supermarkets will have meals delivered. This type of supply accounts for 20-30%.
As for processed foods and dried foods, we supply them to schools that have kitchens on site. These are customers that Co.opmart sells wholesale in large quantities" - this person informed.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-mua-thuc-pham-voi-gia-tren-troi-cho-hoc-sinh-an-nhieu-duong-va-muoi-20241030224215725.htm
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