Schools in England will be required to serve a portion of pulses within or alongside every main menu option at least once a week, following the first rewrite of the School Food Standards in more than a decade, the UK Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed. Ministers published their consultation response in September 2026 and intend to lay regulations in October, with the revised standards taking effect from September 2027, subject to parliamentary approval.
Deep frying will no longer be permitted, and cheese will be capped at two portions a week when used as a main ingredient. Secondary schools will get a transition year, with pulses required once every fortnight during the 2027/28 school year, while phased requirements on drinks and cheese begin in September 2028.
The biggest change for producers concerns how protein is counted. Pulses can now count toward the requirement for a portion of meat on three or more days a week, a category previously reserved for animal-derived proteins, and at least one vegetarian main must contain pulses on three days a week. Baked beans have been added to the protein food group but are counted separately from pulses and do not count as a vegetable. Cheese has also been added to the protein group, though the DfE said its use as a main ingredient will stay limited, so it does not become the default route to meeting vegetarian and protein requirements.
Fortified pea drinks have been added to the list of permitted plant-based drinks alongside unsweetened soya and oat, after requests made during the consultation. Yoghurt and plant-based alternatives meeting the dairy and plant-based food group requirements, along with houmous, have been added to the permitted snacks list. Fruit juice and combination drinks remain excluded from school meal services.
The consultation received 5,216 responses, of which 2,273 came through a campaign run by Plant-Based Schools calling for greater access to plant-rich meals. The DfE said plant-based options have been worked into the revised standards throughout.
Martin Bowman, Senior Policy and Campaigns Manager at Foodrise, said to Vegconomist, “Plant-based proteins like pulses are often cheaper than meat, so can help schools deliver quality and variety, more fruit and veg and meet the other Standards.”
