School Meals and Special Diets
Teese Botnia produces meal services for basic education in Vaasa See the menus via this link.
The purpose of school meals is to support students’ healthy growth and development, learning ability, and food literacy. Every school day, a balanced free meal is offered to those participating in education. The meal is enjoyed during an appropriately organized and supervised mealtime. The organization of school meals takes into account the health, social, and cultural significance of the meal.
Special Diets in the Basic Education
Special diets in the basic education provided by the City of Vaasa
Schools in Vaasa provide special diet meals for students who require them, provided there are clear health-related or ethical grounds for doing so.
Special diet meals in schools are prepared in a way that ensures students are not served any ingredients that are unsuitable for them.
The meal plan for pupils on special diets is designed to be as similar as possible to the standard menu.
How should special dietary requirements be reported?
The parent or guardian reports the pupil’s special dietary requirements in Wilma using the Guardians notification of special diet form. The information is sent to the catering services at the start of the school year on 6 August and again on the first day of school. After that, updates are sent monthly on the first working day of each month. To ensure that special dietary requirements can be accommodated properly, please submit the notification as early as possible, as catering services need time to process the information and make the necessary meal arrangements.
If a pupil needs a special diet outside these deadlines and the matter is urgent, parents or guardians should email perusopetus@edu.vaasa.fi after completing the Wilma form. This will help us put the necessary special dietary arrangements in place as quickly as possible.
Medical certificates (doctor’s certificates) must be submitted to the school nurse upon request.
Inform the school kitchen if your child is absent
If a pupil with special dietary requirements is absent from school, the parent or guardian should notify the school kitchen. This helps avoid food waste by ensuring that special meals are not prepared unnecessarily. Information about school kitchens and menus is available on the Teese Botnia’s catering services website, Aromi. Select School and then choose your child’s school from the second drop-down menu.
If a special diet meal has not been taken or eaten for two weeks without a valid reason, its preparation will be no longer be considered necessary.
Diabetes
Students with diabetes are provided with the same meals as other students. If required, the parent or guardian must provide the school principal with the personal meal plan of the student with diabetes. The principal will convey the information to the kitchen staff. A diabetic diet can be arranged upon presentation of a medical certificate.
Coeliac disease
Wheat, barley, and rye are replaced with gluten-free grains and gluten-free products with an analysed gluten content of less than 20 mg/kg. A medical certificate is required for a gluten-free diet to be provided as part of school meals.
With parental consent, students may be served school meals that contain gluten-free oats or gluten-free wheat starch.
Allergies
Severe allergic symptom or key food item:
Milk, eggs, wheat, fish, and nuts are the most common causes of severe allergic reactions.
Nutritionally essential foods are replaced with alternative ingredients that the student can tolerate.
The diet is based on a medical diagnosis made by and supported by a medical certificate issued by a doctor. A medical certificate is required for all foods that cause severe symptoms, even if they are not substituted with other food items.
If a student’s diet is particularly restricted, an individual meal plan should also be attached to the notification.
Mild symptoms that resolve on their own:
If the student experiences mild symptoms during a school meal, the food item causing them will be set aside. In such cases, the student does not require a special diet or a medical certificate.
It is important for students to learn to eat a varied diet. The more foods that are excluded from the diet, the more difficult it becomes to create a nutritionally balanced meal plan.
In line with the National Allergy Programme, foods that cause only mild symptoms, such as temporary itching or tingling in the mouth or redness of the skin, should not be avoided. Instead, they should be gradually reintroduced to help build tolerance. Therefore, exclusion certificates are not issued for foods that cause only mild allergic reactions. No foods are excluded as a precaution.
Lactose intolerance
Dairy products containing lactose are replaced with low-lactose or lactose-free alternatives.
A notification from the parents is sufficient for the child to receive a low-lactose diet; no medical certificate is required.
However, a completely lactose-free diet requires a medical certificate.
Diets based on religion
In diets based on religion, pork, beef, or blood products are generally replaced with lacto-ovo-vegetarian options. No medical certificate is required.
Vegetarian diet
Schools offer a vegetarian diet option. No medical certificate is required.
Vegetarian diet options include:
- lacto-ovo-vegetarian or
- lacto-ovo-vegetarian + fish.
A vegetarian diet is available for children who do not follow any other special diet. In primary schools, a vegetarian meal option is available only if the same diet is followed at home. A medical certificate is required if any other foods are to be excluded from the diet.
Students following a vegetarian diet are offered meals that include grain products, vegetables, fruits, and berries, along with animal products such as dairy and eggs (lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet).
A vegan diet option is not available in basic education.