School dinners are being put to the test as part of a nationwide scheme to make sure standards are up to scratch.

Nutritional standards will be assessed in a trial run by The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department for Education and a Kent council is one of 18 authorities taking part.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council will be part of the School Food Standards Compliance pilot which will see council officers – who routinely carry out hygiene inspections in school kitchens – also check nutritional standards of meals.

The team of six from Tonbridge and Malling will be checking areas such as how many portions of fruit and vegetables are served each day and whether non-permitted sugary items are being offered.

The council's cabinet member for environmental health, Cllr Robin Betts said: "The standards exist to ensure youngsters are getting healthy, nutritious food at school which helps them grow, develop and learn.

"Given our expert team already visit local schools to carry out hygiene checks, they are well placed to extend that role to assessing whether food standards are being met and helping head teachers in making improvements where required."

The pilot was announced in the Levelling Up white paper earlier this year, which set out the government’s aim to transform the country into a more equal society.

It will be running throughout this academic year and lessons learnt could be used to roll the scheme out nationwide.

FSA chairman Professor Susan Jebb said: "Schools play a crucial role in providing children with healthy food to help them concentrate and thrive in the classroom and beyond.

"We all want to ensure that the food served in schools meets the standards that have been set.

"This project will give insight into what is happening in schools today and identify whether additional support is needed to help them to do the very best they can for children and drive positive change in the school food system."