Project on sustainable and nutritious school meals receives funding

The aim of the project is to provide schools and public meal services with better tools to serve sustainable meals that at the same time meet the nutritional needs of children and young people. By further developing a digital tool, it will be possible to calculate how much iron, zinc and calcium the body can absorb from different foods and meals.

Background and initiative

“Today, we are encouraged to shift towards a more plant-based diet, primarily for climate reasons. This may lead to an increased risk of deficiencies in certain micronutrients, such as minerals. Meat, fish and dairy products contain minerals in forms that are easily absorbed and utilized by the body. When we exclude these foods, we risk overestimating how well the diet meets our nutritional needs. It is not enough to know the mineral content of food, we also need to know how much of it can actually be absorbed by the body. We have initiated a research project to combine algorithms that estimate iron, zinc and calcium absorption from the diet, and we aim to use these to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. This is important for both girls and boys, but especially for teenage girls, who are a risk group for mineral deficiencies, particularly iron due to menstrual losses, and because girls are overrepresented among those who have adopted a plant-based diet," says Ann-Sofie Sandberg.

“The project also builds on more than 30 years of research on mineral bioavailability conducted by our group at Chalmers,“ she adds.

Project implementation

The project will run from April 2026 to September 2028 and will initially be available to selected schools and public meal services in Västra Götaland. These will have the opportunity to test the tool in practice, build knowledge and develop new approaches to planning sustainable and nutritious meals.

In the next phase, the ambition is to integrate the tool into the existing system, making it possible for more municipalities to benefit from its functions.

Food companies will also be able to benefit from the project through access to improved nutritional and sustainability calculations, as well as laboratory analyses. With the help of digital tools and analytical methods, companies can develop products with higher nutritional value.

Significance for the future

“This is important for developing and ensuring access to sustainable and nutritious school meals and food products in Västra Götaland, thereby reducing the risk of nutrient deficiencies among schoolchildren. We therefore expect improved public health for the region’s residents.

It also represents a new way of working and the establishment of infrastructure for the school meal sector in the region that takes both nutritional quality and sustainability into account,” says Inger-Cecilia Mayer Labba.