Nursery meals: 'I wouldn't feed this to my child'

Councillor Steve Cardownie (pictured being force-fed by four-year-old Matthew Macgregor) visited Grassmarket Nursery within hours of the Evening News exposing the poor quality of nursery packed lunches.

The SNP group leader said he was "abhorred" by the pictures published yesterday, and admitted he would not feed the meals to his children.

Parents are furious over the "unhealthy" lunches that are being handed out to youngsters after the council scrapped hot meals in 14 of its 18 nurseries.

The Lib Dem/SNP administration is also in the process of temporarily closing six primary school kitchens, and has done away with hot meals in secondary schools on Fridays.

Staff at the Grassmarket Nursery pleaded with councillors to bring back the old system, where a cook would deliver and serve hot food.

Instead of the beef casserole with boiled potatoes that used to be served on a Friday, yesterday's packed lunch consisted of processed turkey on white bread or cheese and coleslaw in a white roll, with a Mller yoghurt, an apple, a choice of chocolate or strawberry milk, and a cake – most of which were "rock solid" and burnt.

"Were these made by King Alfred?" Cllr Cardownie asked. "They look like one of the cobbles being dug up in the Grassmarket. (Animated children's favourite] Peppa Pig gets better food than this. After a great deal of investigation that Sherlock Holmes would be proud of, I have found less than a quarter of a slice of tomato in the sandwich and a sliver of cucumber, but there seems to be a lot of water in the turkey.

"I don't understand why the milk is 'fresh-n-lo' – whole milk is much more beneficial for children.

"This meal is totally unsatisfactory and this situation cannot be allowed to continue.

"I would like to thank the Evening News for raising this – it's entirely justifiable that our local newspaper has taken this up."

Cllr Cardownie added: "Clearly something now has to be done. I wouldn't feed my child this food."

The SNP leader said he would have "jumped at the chance" to meet parents who protested at the City Chambers this week, but was unaware of the visit.

Deputy education leader Councillor David Beckett, who was criticised by parents for not meeting them at the demonstration, also said he had been in constant talks with staff at Grassmarket Nursery about the situation.

One member of staff at the nursery said children are missing out on a "social learning experience". "Instead of being served with knives and forks, the food now comes in a paper bag. We've tried presenting the food to the children in a way that they might like it, but they still don't eat it," she said. "We need hot lunches reinstated."

Parents pay 1.65 for the packed lunches, and the cost is due to rise to 1.75 next summer.

The menu cycle, which is devised and provided by council arms-length company Edinburgh Catering Services, has supposedly been analysed to meet nutritional guidelines. But one leading city nutritionist this week criticised the high sugar count after examining the food. Education leader Marilyne MacLaren has vowed to investigate the issue with senior officers of the council.