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Boy, 16, receives just ONE piece of popcorn chicken on £2 school dinner wrap with staff 'telling him to add salad when he complained'...how do YOUR canteen meals compare?

6 months ago 38

A 16-year-old boy received just one piece of popcorn chicken on a £2 wrap for school dinner with canteen staff telling him to 'add salad' after he complained. 

The student was given the food at University Academy Holbeach in Lincolnshire. 

His grandmother Liz Cooper has said she was 'disgusted' after seeing a photo of the paltry meal and said her grandson will now be switching to packed lunches. 

'That's not a lot of protein to keep a 16-year-old boy going all afternoon', she told the BBC.

'The chicken was the size of a piece of popcorn chicken, not even a goujon or a chicken nugget, it was smaller than that.'

The 16-year-old boy received just one piece of popcorn chicken on a £2 wrap for his school dinner with canteen staff telling him to 'add salad' after he complained

His grandmother Liz Cooper (pictured) has said she was 'disgusted' after seeing a photo of the paltry meal and said her grandson will now be switching to packed lunches

The student was given the food at University Academy Holbeach in Lincolnshire (pictured)

The wrap is advertised as the sweet chilli crispy wrap on the schools canteen menu costing £2.

Ms Cooper complained in writing to the secondary school, who told her the caterers agreed to look at the quality of the wraps and increase the quantity of chicken provided.

A spokesperson for University Academy Holbeach said: 'The issue identified happened a number of weeks ago and was raised immediately with our external catering company.

'Regrettably, on that occasion, the food provided to one of our students fell below what we would expect.

'The catering company agreed that the food did not meet their usual standards and assured us that it will not happen again.

'We continue to monitor this, and to work closely with them to ensure the quantity and quality of food provided meets the required standard.'

Other options on the canteen's menu include a BBQ crispy chicken wrap for £2, a ham & cheese panini for £1.95 and pepperoni pizza & chips for £2

University Academy Holbeach was given a 'Good' rating from education watchdog Ofsted in 2019

Other options in the canteen include a BBQ crispy chicken wrap for £2, a ham & cheese pannini for £1.95 and pepperoni pizza & chips for £2.

University Academy Holbeach is a non-selective 11-19 school which was founded by the University of Lincoln in 2011. 

It was given a 'Good' rating from education watchdog Ofsted in 2019. 

The University of Lincoln formed the Lincolnshire Educational Trust in 2014 which is now responsible for running five academies.

The row over the chicken wrap comes after a headteacher forced to apologise to parents for 'completely unacceptable' school dinners last month.

Jason Ashley, head of Redbridge Community School in Southampton, criticised the catering company who hold the school's catering contract.

In a letter to parents, Mr Ashley shared photos of the food which is also being served to staff. Dishes include chips and beans and a tuna jacket potato.

He said if the food had been served to his own children, he would be 'exceptionally unhappy'.

The former Ofsted inspector also said portion sizes had 'gotten smaller in recent times' whilst 'prices have increased.'

Headmaster of Redbridge Community School in Southampton criticised the school's catering company last month

Pie and mash served at Redbridge Community School last month

Photos of what appears to be a veggie burger served at Redbridge Community School

And in 2022 Craig Laird, whose children attend Bulwell Academy in Nottingham, slammed the trust-run secondary school is serving up 'inadequate' lunch options.

Some of the menu items highlighted include a single slice of pizza 'which looks like it has been bought from Aldi's basic range' and pasta with a 'blob' of sauce served in a 'polystyrene tea cup'.

The father-of-four also hit out at the school over a 'disgusting' sliced baguette stuffed with a 'block of cheese'.

And he feared the meals are not up to nutritional standards, fuming: 'Our kids are being treated worse than in a prison'.

Leaders at the school, which has more than a 1,000 students, insisted its catering staff 'worked hard' to ensure menu items meet nutritional standards.

The row over shoddy school dinners come after Britons shared the 'disgusting' and 'unidentifiable' dishes of food served up to them in NHS hospitals last month.

Images shared with MailOnline showed how some of the shocking dishes included an orange that had gone partly black, an 'unidentifiable' pie and millionaire shortbread which was 'hard as a brick'.

Parents of students at Bulwell Academy in Nottingham complained about a 'disgusting' sliced baguette stuffed with a 'block of cheese' in 2022

Some of the menu items highlighted by parents include a single slice of pizza (pictured) 'which looks like it has been bought from Aldi's basic range'

Others have complained about pasta with a 'blob' of sauce served in a 'polystyrene tea cup' (pictured)

An  'omelette' that was served to a woman during a 24-hour stay in hospital

A handful of chips and dry looking chicken goujons served to an NHS patient

Fishfingers and a handful of chips which was served to an NHS patient

Five croquettes and some form of pie which appears to have been mushed up was given to a patient at Salford Hospital

The sausage, mash and soup a patient in Basingstoke Hospital was served

In one particularly appalling NHS example, a woman was served an 'omelette' during a 24-hour stay which looks more like an alien lifeform than anything belonging on a plate. 

She said: 'I was in hospital for 24 hours and asked for an omelette for lunch. This is what I got! Disgusting.'

However, the food served to patients in private hospitals tells a rather different story - with people served pizza and chips, a fresh feta salad and even a smoked salmon dish.

Another woman was served two unappealing meals in hospital - fish fingers and chips followed by chicken goujons and chips.

The serving of chips seemed rather meagre and fried breaded meat looked dry in both instances.

And at Salford Hospital, one patient was served five croquettes and what appeared to be some form of mushed up pie.

A horrific looking bangers and mash with soup combo was served to one man in Basingstoke Hospital which his daughter compared to poo.

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