A Menu Health Check by QAST can help you identify the strengths of your current menu and give you ideas on how to make it healthier. The aim of a Menu Health Check is to make improvements to your menu over time. If you do not achieve a high rating at first, QAST encourages you to celebrate any improvements made and keep working on it.
The Menu Health Check uses the Education Queensland Smart Choices Food & Drink Supply Strategy to rate your menu on availability of healthy choices. It uses the descriptions of items on your menu and some common assumptions to provide a snapshot review, indicating the proportions of items that fall into each of the Green, Amber or Red categories.
The report also highlights recommendations regarding menu size, layout, promotions and composition of the menu, all of which are intended to help your menu become more consistent with the Smart Choices strategy.
How much does it cost?
The Menu Health Check is FREE for QAST members.
For more information or to request a Menu Health Check, complete the form below, email us at admin@qast.org.au, or give us a call on (07) 3324 1511.
Request a Menu Health Check
Submit your school tuckshop menu for a Menu Health Check, to see how it compares against the Smart Choices Food & Drink Supply Strategy.
About menu ratings
Rating | Description |
1 | Menu is not consistent with Smart Choices. (AMBER menu items dominate. RED items present) |
2 | Menu is not consistent with Smart Choices. (Minimum 50% GREEN. RED items present) |
3 | Menu meets the minimum requirements for consistency with Smart Choices. (50% to 64% GREEN. No RED items) |
4 | A good menu – exceeds the minimum requirements for consistency with Smart Choices. (65% to 74% GREEN. No RED items) |
5 | An outstanding menu – well exceeds the minimum requirements for consistency with Smart Choices. (75% or more GREEN. No RED items) |
0 | Doesn’t contain enough data for a rating to be applied. Grey sections on a graph indicate products may not be consistent with Smart Choices criteria. More information is required. |
Menu planning recommendations
After some general advice for improving your menu? Here’s some overall guidance:
Meal recommendations
Your menu should be centered around tuckshop made meals that can be made in bulk batches and portioned. Typically these meals are made in advance and frozen, unless you are in a small school or do not have sufficient storage space. These include options such as pasta Bolognese, butter chicken, curries, fried rice or pre-made burritos or pizzas. These meals can be efficient, profitable and nutritious.
These main meals can be complemented by a small number of items that require assembly, such as burgers, sushi bowls, wraps and sandwiches.
Snack recommendations
GREEN snack options include fruit, vegetables and dairy snacks, like fruit salad cups, veggie sticks and dip, corn cobs, reduced fat custard, yoghurt, boiled eggs, plain popcorn or snack boxes that contain a combination of these options.
AMBER snack options include fruit-based muffins, frozen fruit juice sticks and ice-creams that do not contain confectionary in small portions.
Drink recommendations
There are four types of drinks that can be supplied under Smart Choices; plain water, plain milk, flavoured milk and 99% fruit juice. This is plenty of variety for a school tuckshop. Be careful not to provide too many different brands or sizes. Carbonated drinks of any kind should not be served.
Promotions
Meal deals and specials are a great way of attracting attention to certain menu items or to increase variety and sales. Always focus these on tuckshop-made meals that are more efficient to produce, profitable and nutritious.