Content Map Terms
Last updated: December 11, 2024
The 2013 Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in B.C. are currently being updated to reflect the 2019 Canada food guide and to provide additional practical resources to support schools in offering a variety of nutritious foods to students. In the meantime, if you have any questions on how to increase the nutrition of the foods served in your school, please contact a public health dietitian in your area/district working with schools. To connect with a dietitian at HealthLink BC, call 8-1-1 (or 7-1-1 for the hearing impaired) or Email a HealthLinkBC Dietitian
Overview
Healthy meal and snack options are an important part of creating healthy eating environments where we live, learn, work and play.
The Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in B.C. Schools (the Guidelines) define the minimum nutrition standards that schools are required to use to determine what food and beverages can be sold to students. The Guidelines include information, tools and fact sheets to support implementation across the school setting.
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools, English (PDF, 936KB)
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools, French (PDF, 2.8MB)
On this page
At-a-glance overview
Read a brief overview of the Guidelines:
- Guidelines for Food & Beverage Sales in B.C. Schools: At a Glance, English (PDF, 234KB)
- Guidelines for Food & Beverage Sales in B.C. Schools: At a Glance, French (PDF, 2.9MB)
Fact sheets
The fact sheets help parents, food providers, school administrators and teachers with implementation. Learn more:
- Boosting the sales of nutritious food in schools
- Food fundraiser ideas for schools
- Involving everyone in implementing the guidelines
- Making bake sales delicious and nutritious
- Planning healthy cafeteria menus
- Selling food and beverages at school sporting events
- Stock vending machines and stores with healthy food and beverages
Ready-to-use presentations
These ready-to-use slide presentations can help you teach others about the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in B.C. Schools. They will help you provide an overview of the Guidelines, with details on how to implement them and how to teach others to use the Checklist. Speaking notes are inserted into the second version of each presentation listed below.
- An Overview of the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- How to Implement the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Learning to Use the Checklist in the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
Scoring summary reports
The scoring summary reports help people that prepare food and beverages for sale to students in B.C. schools score freshly-made foods using the Checklist. You can find the Checklist in the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools (PDF 5.61 MB), on pages 18 to 37.
To get started, score your menu items using the Checklist, and then record the results in the relevant scoring summary report. There is a separate report for each food and beverage category in the Checklist. The scoring summary reports can then be shared with school food purchasers to prove that freshly made menu items meet the criteria set out in the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools.
- Scoring Summary Report - Beverages
- Scoring Summary Report - Grain Dishes and Baked Goods
- Scoring Summary Report - Meat and Alternative Dishes
- Scoring Summary Report - Mixed Entrees, Sandwiches, Wraps, Pitas, Burgers, and Pizza
- Scoring Summary Report - Salad, Vegetables, and Fruit Dishes
- Scoring Summary Report - Side Dishes
- Scoring Summary Report - Side Sauces and Dips
- Scoring Summary Report - Soup
Additional resources
Brand Name Food List
A tool to help people in B.C. choose ready-to-eat food and beverages that meet the nutrition standards for schools and public buildings.
Bake Better Bites: Recipes and Tips for Healthier Baked Goods (PDF, 2.43MB)
Find recipes and tips for preparing healthy baked goods and is helpful for parents, community volunteers, school staff and students.
Tips and recipes for quantity cooking
This resource includes tips on how to choose healthy recipes, substitutions to make favourite recipes healthier and a selection of delicious recipes.
Common cooking and baking conversions (PDF, 45KB)
Use this tool to help you change from imperial to metric measurements when scoring your recipes for freshly made foods.
School Meal and School Nutrition Program Handbook (PDF, 7.3MB)
This handbooks is based on the 2010 edition of the Guidelines but provides useful information on healthy eating, meal planning, fundraising and program planning and evaluation.
Health Schools BC
Provides information and resources, including the Teach Food First toolkit, to help support the health and learning of students.