Summary of the standards
Requirements and standards for school meals in Tanzania Mainland
To meet the nutritional requirements of students, the following should be observed when providing food at school:
| Time spent by students at school | Food requirement |
| 7 am to 12 pm (half day) | Food served should meet 30-45 percent of the daily recommended body nutritional requirements |
| Day school | Food served should meet 60-75 percent of the daily recommended body nutritional requirements. |
| Boarding school | Food served should meet 100 percent of the daily recommended body nutritional requirements. |
Food Quality
- Meals given to students should incorporate various food groups, such as:
- cereals/roots/tubers/and green banana;
- pulses, legumes and animal-source foods;
- vegetables;
- fruits; and
- oil, sugar and honey.
It is recommended that each school meal includes at least four of the five food groups mentioned above.
Schools are required to design and change the menu at least once a week, to avoid monotonous meals and so that children can access diversified diets.
Whenever possible, it is recommended to use fortified foods in students’ meals, such as cooking oil fortified with vitamin A, maize flour fortified with iron and zinc, iodized salt and bio-fortified crops such as beans, maize and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes.
Food preparation and cooking should consider moderate use of oil/fats, salt and sugar to prevent health consequences.
Boarding school students in both public and private schools will be provided with food and nutrition service as per existing procedures.
Food safety
Hygiene and food safety measures should be observed during food preparation, serving and while eating.
Students should be encouraged to drink plenty of clean and safe water.
Cooks should undergo health checkups every six months.
Culturally acceptable food
Food cooked and served to students should be culturally acceptable in that particular community.
Schools are encouraged to use local foods, or foods available in specific seasons, as this will reduce the cost of implementing a school feeding programme for sustainability.
Appropriate nutritional requirements by age and food groups
- Food and meals served at school should meet minimum daily nutritional requirements for students as described in the table below.
Estimates of food requirements in a single meal per child per day
| Types of Foodª | (3 to 10 years)b | (11 to 18 years)b |
| Cereals (e.g., maize, rice) | 40-60 g | 60-70 g |
| Roots and banana (e.g., cassava, yams) | 100-150 g | 150-200 g |
| Legumes (e.g., beans, cowpea, peas) | 20-25 g | 40-45 g |
| Meat (e.g., fish, beef, chicken) | 50-80 g | 80-125 g |
| Milk (e.g., fresh milk, yoghurt) | 50-200 g | 200-250 g |
| Vegetables | 40-60 g | 80 g |
| Fruits | 75-100 g | 100-150 g |
| Fats/oils | 5 g | 5 g |
| Sugar | 10-12 g | 15-20 g |
| Salt | 2.5-3 g | 2.5-3 g |
a. Uncooked foodstuffs
b. Estimated to meet at least one-third of energy requirement and considering food group diversity in a meal.