Greek food industry helps rewrite school canteen rules amid childhood obesity focus

SEVT says its role on Greece’s National Nutrition Committee has helped expand the range of products meeting nutritional criteria in school canteens.

The Greek food and drink industry group SEVT has said it helped shape the new specification table for products now sold in school canteens, as part of its work on the country’s National Nutrition Committee. The move comes as policymakers and health campaigners continue to focus on childhood eating habits, which are widely seen as a foundation for later health outcomes.

SEVT argues that healthier diets, together with enough physical activity and responsible information, are essential to protecting health, reducing obesity and curbing non-communicable diseases. The association says school settings matter because eating patterns are formed early, and that a wider range of balanced products in canteens can help pupils become more familiar with healthier choices. In practice, that means more products meeting nutritional criteria and more options intended to fit into a more balanced daily diet.

The association also points to longer-running initiatives that it says show the industry is taking a more active role in nutrition policy. Among them is its Code of Principles on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Health, introduced in 2005, which it presents as a commitment by member companies to promote balanced eating. It also highlighted the Greek Pledge, launched in 2021 with the support of the Greek Advertisers Association, under which participating companies agree not to market products that fail to meet specific nutritional standards to children under 13. SEVT says the aim is to help address childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases. It also referred to its reformulation drive, which seeks to encourage products with healthier profiles that better match modern dietary needs.

Baso Papadimitriou, SEVT’s general director and the association’s representative on the National Nutrition Committee, said building balanced eating habits begins in childhood and is a shared responsibility. “The school environment and the school canteen, by offering more balanced options, can contribute significantly to educating children and parents in more balanced eating habits,” Papadimitriou said in a statement. She added that SEVT’s participation in the committee supports a framework that improves pupils’ access to nutritious products.