On 21st February 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) released updated guidance on delivering funded childcare hours, aiming to ensure no family is ‘priced out of the support they need.’ This involved re-stating the fact that early years settings can continue to charge for meals, but these charges must remain optional.

So what does this mean for food and nutrition at nursery? It is possible that some nurseries may find they receive more requests from families wanting to bring packed food from home. Offering families flexibility is important, but this policy update means settings now face the challenge of:

• Supporting families who wish to bring food for nursery from home, with little to no support or training to guide this process.
• Encouraging healthy eating and ensuring compliance with the new early years nutrition guidelines.

Why Nursery Meals Matter

Food from home might offer flexibility for families, but meals provided at nursery remain a crucial part of the picture, especially under the new early years nutrition guidance, which comes into place in September. Shared nursery meals deliver many benefits such as:

• Balanced and consistent nutrition - at Nursery Kitchen our menus are carefully planned to meet children’s nutritional needs, in line with the latest guidance. Our healthy meals help to support growth, development and concentration for learning and play.
• Improved food safety - we follow strict food safety standards from sourcing to handling and storing food. You can be sure that every effort is taken to ensure our nursery meals are safe for children, and we have the SALSA accreditation to prove it!
• Allergy controls - from ingredient procurement to production and packing, we have clear and robust processes for managing allergens and reducing the risk of cross contamination. These include a full ‘allergen clean-down’ after preparing foods which contain one of the main 14 allergens.
• Sociable eating experiences - shared mealtimes in childcare settings encourage children to interact with peers and practitioners. This helps to develop social skills, communication and positive attitudes towards food.
• Exposure to new foods - nursery meals give children opportunities to try a wide variety of flavours, ingredients and dishes that they might not otherwise come across at home. This includes foods from different cultures, supporting both diversity and inclusion as well as the development of adventurous eating habits.
• Fun learning opportunities - our ‘lunch and learn’ and ‘cultural capital’ events turn mealtimes into engaging experiences, linking food to wider learning about seasons, celebrations, countries, language and more.

Children are always at the heart of what we do, and our concern is that an increase in packed lunches could incur certain risks:

• Nutrition gaps - evidence shows packed lunches are often less varied and can be higher in fat, sugar and salt than nursery meals.
• Health inequalities - families on lower incomes may struggle to provide diverse, balanced lunchboxes, which could widen existing health gaps.
• Limited food exposure - children bringing packed lunches may miss out on trying new foods they wouldn’t encounter at home, which can impact long-term food preferences and eating habits.
• Food safety risks - not all settings have suitable chilled storage for lunchboxes, which raises food safety concerns.
• Policy dilemmas - many of you tell us how hard it is to manage packed-lunch policies sensitively, particularly when cost is an issue for parents.

These issues become even more significant when viewed alongside the new EYFS framework, which places higher expectations on the nutritional quality of food at nursery.

How Nursery Kitchen Supports You

At Nursery Kitchen, we’re here to help you navigate these changes and continue delivering the best possible mealtime experiences.

By outsourcing your food provision to us, you can rest assured that we are taking care of:

• Consistent nutritional quality - our meals are designed to meet the new EYFS nutrition guidance, so you can feel confident in your compliance and even opt-in for our nutritionist approved menu accreditation to help you evidence this.
• Safe and allergen-aware food preparation - our SALSA accredited kitchen means our food safety inspections exceed the minimum required by law. In addition, we ensure that potential allergens are always managed with expertise and care.
• Operational ease - we handle menu planning, shopping and cooking, freeing your team to focus on what they do best – caring for children.
• Calmer mealtimes - we support a positive, relaxed atmosphere at mealtimes, which encourages every child’s enjoyment of food.
• Lunch Box Policy - our new example Lunch Box Policy, available to our nursery partners, is designed to support you in promoting the importance of balanced, nutritious meals in line with the updated EYFS nutrition guidance. It provides clear, positive messaging around the benefits of nursery meals whilst also offering practical guidance for families who do choose to bring food from home.
• Food and nutrition education - we offer a wide range of webinars, workshops and downloadable resources for staff and families, covering everything from weaning and allergies to food refusal and where food comes from. These are designed by nutrition and early years professionals to build confidence, support informed choices and create a consistent, positive food culture across your nursery.

We’re proud to work alongside you in delivering nutritious, varied meals that help children build lifelong healthy relationships with food, even as the policy landscape changes.

Become a partner

If you’d like to discuss how these updates might affect your nursery, or how we can support you further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Contact us

There’s a big change coming this September, and it’s all about making sure little ones are enjoying meals that are not only tasty but truly nourishing.

The Department for Education is bringing in new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) nutrition guidance for 2025. It’s clearer, more practical, and designed to make sure that every snack, drink and meal in early years settings is healthy, balanced and packed with goodness.

At Nursery Kitchen, we’re ready for it and if you join our family of nursery partners, you will be too.

What’s changing and why it’s great news

You might have seen the new guidance and thought, “What does this actually mean for our nursery?” You’re not alone. For years, “healthy, balanced and nutritious” was open to interpretation, but now there’s an actual guide.

The new EYFS nutrition guidance covers:

• Infant feeding and introducing solid foods
• Foods to include, limit or avoid at each meal or snack
• Portion sizes and label reading
• Safe food preparation and choking risk reduction
• Menu planning ideas and variety across the week
• Meeting dietary needs for allergies, intolerances, SEND and cultural or religious requirements
• Budget-friendly tips for healthy food provision
• Resources for engaging parents and families in your food approach

It’s a brilliant step forward, recognising that the food we serve plays a big role in children’s health, development and their learning. And we’re all for it!

Already a Nursery Kitchen partner? You’re sorted.

If you’re already using our sample menu, here’s some lovely news, you don’t need to change a thing. Our Early Years Nutritionist and Development Chef have worked hand in hand to create meals and design a complete menu that already meets (and often exceeds) the new early years nutrition guidance.

That means:

• Meals with the right balance of food groups
• Dishes low in salt, sugar and saturated fat
• 5-a-day, every day
• At least 40 plant points per week
• Oily fish every 3 weeks
• Variety of wholegrains
• Meals to meet special dietary needs
• MSC-certified sustainable fish

Would your nursery like to be all sorted too?

Become a partner today

By joining Nursery Kitchen and following our sample menu, you’ll be offering the best to your children and ticking all the guidance boxes.

Prefer a bit more flexibility? Our Menu Accreditation can help

If you’d like to build your own menu using our nutritious meals and snacks to suit your nursery’s own routine, that’s absolutely fine, and you can do this as a partner too. However, with flexibility comes the need for a little double-checking.

That’s where our Nutritionist Approved Menu Accreditation Service comes in.

Through this, our in-house nutritionist will carefully analyse your full menus (regardless of how much you buy from Nursery Kitchen) against our Mighty Menu Checklist, which is fully aligned with the new EYFS nutrition guidance.

With our Menu Accreditation, you’ll get:

• A clear sign your menus are not just compliant, but shining examples of best practice
• Confidence during inspections
• Reassurance for parents that you’re going above and beyond in food provision

It’s a brilliant way to show leadership in early years nutrition, and it’s available exclusively to our partners.

Find out more

We’re here to help you get ready

We know how much care goes into feeding little ones well, and we also know that keeping up with new guidance can feel like a lot.

That’s why we’re here.

As a Nursery Kitchen partner, you’ll have expert support at your fingertips. Whether you’re following our full menu or building your own with our meals, we’ll help make sure your food offering is something to feel proud of.

As September gets closer, here’s what you can count on with Nursery Kitchen:

• You’ll be offering meals that meet the new EYFS nutrition guidance
• You’ll have the chance to get your menus fully accredited
• You’ll be part of a community that’s passionate about helping children thrive

So, if you’re not a Nursery Kitchen partner yet… come and join us at the table. It’s the easiest (and yummiest!) way to stay compliant, give parents peace of mind and serve up meals that make a real difference.

Let’s give children a healthy start – together.

Would like to find out more about becoming a Nursery Kitchen partner?

We’d love to hear from you

In February this year, the Department for Education (DfE) introduced important updates to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework to strengthen food safety in early years settings, particularly around choking risks, allergies and the introduction of solid foods. You can view the updated guidance for safer eating in early years settings here, on page 30: Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding reforms.

At Nursery Kitchen, we fully support these changes and are proud that our current practices and resources already reflect many of the new EYFS requirements. Keeping children safe at mealtimes has always been a cornerstone of our approach and this will never change.

Our meals are thoughtfully created with child safety, as well as good nutrition, in mind. We follow rigorous ingredient specifications to ensure that the size, shape and texture of foods are suitable for young children, significantly reducing the risk of choking. These standards are monitored at every stage of production so that nurseries can serve our meals with confidence.

The updated EYFS guidance highlights the critical importance of supervision during mealtimes, a message we strongly echo in our own food safety guidance. We advise that children should never be left unattended while eating, and that staff should sit facing children to observe their eating and respond swiftly to any signs of choking or allergic reactions.

We also understand that every child develops at their own pace. That’s why for safer eating in early years settings we emphasise the importance of tailoring food preparation to each child’s stage of development, something that the EYFS now also requires. Our weaning resources and webinars have been created to help practitioners understand and support texture progression during infancy and beyond and we are always on had to offer guidance on adapting meals for individual children if needed. If you haven’t accessed our weaning resources yet, we encourage you to do so. Read more.

Allergies and anaphylaxis are also a central focus in the revised EYFS guidance. While all our meals are clearly labelled and produced under strict allergy management procedures, we know that successful allergy management must happen in partnership with nursery staff and families. That’s why we’ve developed a series of Allergy Factsheets and hosted a webinar with Dr Penny Barnard, a leading paediatric dietitian specialising in allergies. These resources are designed to build your team’s confidence and help you support families in navigating the complexities of food allergies.

At Nursery Kitchen, we’re not just here to help you stay compliant, we’re here to help you create safe, joyful and nourishing mealtime experiences for every child. We’re proud to stand with our partners as the sector embraces these new EYFS standards, and we’ll continue to provide the tools and support you need to thrive and ensure safer eating in early years settings.

Download Food Safety Guidance