Spain regulates school meals to ensure healthy eating, mirroring global trends to curb unhealthy food advertising and promote nutrition.
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France’s attempt to limit fast-food restaurants failed due to constitutional rights regarding free trade. In contrast, Spain implemented the Real Decreto de Comedores (315/2025) to regulate food in educational settings, aiming to promote healthy and sustainable nutrition and prevent obesity. This decree restricts or prohibits foods high in added sugars, saturated fats, or salt in vending machines and cafeterias, and bans trans fats (except natural ones), while also setting caloric limits. The law applies to public, subsidized, and private educational centers, requiring them to adopt measures for a healthy food offering. Experts emphasize that school meals serve a dual role: providing necessary nutrients and educating children on lifelong healthy eating habits, advocating for a Mediterranean-style diet and reducing ultra-processed foods. Furthermore, the text notes public support for banning advertising of unhealthy foods to minors, citing international examples like Ireland, which restricts such advertising and has implemented sugar taxes, emphasizing that such regulations should be scientifically grounded and promote responsible consumption of ultra-processed items.
