Analysis and optimisation of a menu for a vegan day care facility for children
- 21.04.2021
- English Articles
- Tim Ritzheim
- Anja Kroke
- Wolfram Trautmann
- Markus Keller
Peer reviewed / Manuscript (original) submitted: 30 March 2020 / Revision accepted: 18 September 2020
Background and objective
The number of vegetarians and vegans is increasing [1]. In Germany, it is estimated that between 1.1% and 2.0% of adults are vegan [2, 3]. But the exact number of vegetarians and vegans is unknown [4]. The percentage of children, who are fed vegetarian or vegan diets is unclear as well. However, it can be assumed that many vegetarian or vegan parents nourish their children at least meatless or even completely without animal products [5]. This assumption is also emphasised by the fact that in 2018 two day care facilities with an exclusively vegan catering offer opened in Germany.
In addition to other quality standards for communal catering (CC), the German Nutrition Society (DGE) has also published quality standards for catering in day care facilities, which define the basic parameters for catering and thus attempt to optimise the nutrient intake of the target group. However, the quality standards and also the supplementary DGE criteria for an ovo-lacto-vegetarian menu incorporated in the new edition include animal products to cover the reference values for nutrient intake and are therefore not suitable as a guideline for vegan-oriented CC [6, 7].
The checklist for a vegan lunch menu in company catering shows that it is possible to cover the reference values for nutrient intake (with the exception of vitamin B12) on the basis of suitable guidelines, even in a vegan CC [8]. However, there are no scientific studies that explicitly examine the nutrient intake or the nutrient contents of the meals in a vegan day care facility yet.
Abstract
Currently, day care facilities offer vegan meals as well. Scientific nutritional recommendations are needed to ensure an adequate nutrient supply and to implement vegan diets for children according to their requirements. In this context, a checklist for day care facilities was developed based on the Giessen catering vegan food pyramid and the checklist for a vegan lunch menu in company catering. We used the checklist in order to analyse the nutrient contents of the vegan menu in a day care facility, to compare it with the childrens' physiological requirements, to identify possible nutrient deficits and to optimise the menu accordingly. Subsequently, two nutrient analyses were carried out to compare the original menu with the optimised menu. After custumizing the recipes, all criteria of the checklist were fulfilled and for almost all nutrients the calculated nutrient contents of the proportionate D-A-CH reference values for nutrient intake related to the lunch were reached or exceeded.
Keywords: communal catering, catering in a day care facility for children, vegan nutrition, vegan diet, quality standards by the German Nutrition Society (DGE), Giessen vegan food pyramid, children’s diet
