School nutritious lunches rely on dietitians' review and oversight to ensure food safety

School nutrition lunches have become a food safety issue that many parents care about recently. Some parents go to the school in person to "supervise the kitchen", reporting each observation to the school. But when no parents come to supervise the kitchen, it is almost always the lunch secretary or the school nutritionist at each school who takes charge. Nutritionists have many duties, including reviewing menus, checking ingredients, and supervising kitchen procedures, making them an often overlooked yet indispensable key role in the whole process.

However, not every school has a school nutritionist. Take Taichung City West District Zhongzheng Elementary School as an example. Because the school has its own kitchen and serves more than 40 classes, it has a school nutritionist, Hong Ling-tiao, stationed on campus long-term. Hong Ling-tiao mentioned that Taichung City has 309 schools but only 50 nutritionists, so one nutritionist may have to be responsible for 5 to 6 schools at the same time, reviewing menus for other schools that do not have kitchens.