Sugary and salty foods to be banned in schools

Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, said there would be a crackdown on high-fat, high-salt foods in school canteens. "I can also announce that from next September no school will be able to have vending machines selling crisps, chocolate and sugary fizzy drinks," she added.

Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said children would bring junk food in packed lunches.

"School leaders are heartily sick of having initiative after initiative foisted upon them and then having to allocate funding from the bottom of a barrel that has ... already been scraped clean," he said. "We wholeheartedly support healthy schools programmes. But to expect schools to provide a quality meal for less than the price of the cheapest unhealthy burger does not stand up to serious scrutiny."