Junk food will disappear from school canteens

Junk food high in fat, salt or sugar is to be banned in schools across England within a year, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly announced after a high profile campaign by Jamie Oliver.

Kelly, speaking to the BBC and Sky News, said she would give details of the ban during her speech at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.

"Teachers know that eating well at school encourages good behavior and children getting better results," she told Sky News.

The debate over healthier school meals became a big issue during the May election after Oliver made a television series in which he tried to feed children on the government's budget.

The star of the hit cooking show "The Naked Chef" appeared visibly shocked in the program when confronted by such modern-day school staples as the "Turkey Twizzler" which he labeled "processed junk".

The government responded by announcing an extra 280 million pounds to be spent on school food over the next three years.

"What Jamie has done is really, really good because it's raised the profile of how important it is for children to eat healthily," Kelly said.

Kelly said school governors would have a responsibility for the food they served and said Ofsted inspectors would check it, Reuters reports.