Can inspection of school lunches be too strict?

[pam]

School Lunch Guidelines: Preschooler Told Homemade Turkey Sandwich Not Nutritious Enough, Given Nuggets Instead

A preschool student at West Hoke Elementary School in North Carolina ended up eating three chicken nuggets for lunch two weeks ago -- because a state inspector declared that the 4-year-old's lunch wasn't nutritious enough.

The turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice, according to the Carolina Journal, didn't meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines. So to meet those requirements, the child was given chicken nuggets. The agent was inspecting the entire class' lunch boxes that day.

[Jennarator]

Wow! I can see insecting what is served from a school, but NOT what is brought from home unless it is rotten or something. THIS IS DUMB! Let a parent send what they think is a good lunch. If it is really bad for the kids, then set a meeting and discuss nutrition with the parent. But the lunch described here didn't seem too bad.

[pam]

I agree Jennarator. The lunch had turkey and fruit and apple juice. Much better than eating 3 chicken nuggets. Give me a break.

[prisonchaplain]

This is one of those outrageous stories that grabs our attention. I did a little more reading, and the district is looking into this. They agree with the mother that her lunch met the standard. The inspector was apparently over-zealous.

I'm guessing that my lunch yesterday might not have been up to snuff. Deep fried egg rolls, deep-fried stuffed jalepenos, and a large bacon-flavored milk shake. I'm told this was not a healthy meal...Seemed awfully good for my mental state, though.

Thankfully the nanny state does not pick on adults...

yet!

[pam]

I think I'm going to be sick. Bacon flavored milk shake?

[Jennarator]

I think I'm going to be sick. Bacon flavored milk shake?

Jack in the box.....

[pam]

They have those there?

[Jennarator]

Yep. They seem to go for the shock factor, like making the most greesy thing possible....

[jerome1232]

Part of me wants to try this freezing-bacon-milk concoction.

[pam]

Yep. They seem to go for the shock factor, like making the most greesy thing possible....

I still LOVE Jack in the Box.

[pam]

Part of me wants to try this freezing-bacon-milk concoction.

And the other part?

[Jennarator]

I still LOVE Jack in the Box.

My husbands fav, too. They are ok, I eat there, just not when I get to choose. :)

[Guest]

There are some things that I love, but should never be together. Like my mom and my mother-in-law. Or milkshakes and bacon.

[Jennarator]

There are some things that I love, but should never be together. Like my mom and my mother-in-law. Or milkshakes and bacon.

Although I do like chocolate dipped bacon.

[john doe]

The thing that gets me is that they sent home a bill for the chicken 'nuggets' they forced on the little girl. "Oh, your lunch from home isn't nutritious enough for our tastes. Here, have some of our Mystery Meat. Now take this bill home and tell your Mommy to pay us for the food we gave you." Sorry, but if you made my child eat food she neither asked for nor wanted then you pay for it, especially if you didn't ask me for permission first.

[Iggy]

The thing that gets me is that they sent home a bill for the chicken 'nuggets' they forced on the little girl. "Oh, your lunch from home isn't nutritious enough for our tastes. Here, have some of our Mystery Meat. Now take this bill home and tell your Mommy to pay us for the food we gave you." Sorry, but if you made my child eat food she neither asked for nor wanted then you pay for it, especially if you didn't ask me for permission first.

what if the child has alergies to whatever is in the nuggets- they took quite a risk in removing her lunch.

[pam]

what if the child has alergies to whatever is in the nuggets- they took quite a risk in removing her lunch.

That thought had crossed my mind as well. Many kids have allergies to anything with peanuts in them. Whether it be peanut oil etc.

[prisonchaplain]

They have those there?

This stuff is too good to make up:

[pam]

Now if the bacon was just to the side..that wouldn't be so bad. :)

[jerome1232]

For a minute I thought you were stringing us all along on a grand joke, then I googled it and it's oh so real.

[john doe]

This stuff is too good to make up:

My understanding is that the bacon is not really bacon, it's merely bacon-flavored. I like bacon, but I'm not sure I would enjoy it as a drink flavoring.

[prisonchaplain]

It's a heavy maple flavor, with a salty bacon after taste. I liked it...but there are over 1000 calories, and the mega-sugar-salt-fat grams to contend with.

[pam]

There goes my calorie intake for the day.

[volgadon]

There goes my calorie intake for the day.

And that is merely by looking at the picture.

[Backroads]

I thought chicken nuggets were the bane of nutritious lunches. Silly article. How do three chicken nuggets satisfy this lunch requirement? And since when does the state/school/whatever have so much power over family life?