To strengthen food safety and meal expense management in primary and secondary schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) released its Guidelines on Food Safety and Meal Expense Management in Primary and Secondary Schools this week. The document focuses on promoting school meal services, improving operational procedures and standards, and regulating management of food safety and meal expenses on campus.

The Guidelines specify the responsibilities of schools and educational administrative departments. School principals must take primary responsibility for food safety and meal expense management. They are required to dine with students at school canteens, conduct food safety satisfaction surveys involving students and parents once per semester, and establish a parent council in charge of monitoring food safety and quality.

The Guidelines provide detailed measures for managing major processes such as food procurement, inspection, processing, storage, and distribution, to ensure the quality of food supplies and enhance oversight of campus canteen management.

The Guidelines explicitly requires self-operated school canteens to maintain independent accounting practices and schools to strengthen financial supervision in implementing the Nutrition Improvement Program. Additionally, the Guidelines offer guidance to local education authorities on resource mobilization and allocation, enhancing oversight as well as information disclosure to the public.