Fruits and vegetables of excellent quality consumed by students through the DIATROFI Program
07/07/2014
Verified by RASFF in an announcement on the safety and purity of Greek products.
Excellent quality Greek products were distributed to students in primary and secondary education during the 2013-14 school year through the Diatrofi Program. The results of laboratory analyses on fruit and vegetables that were distributed to students throughout the year, were fully aligned with the announcement of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which classifies the Greek fruits and vegetables in the top positions on security and purity in Europe.
Specifically, during the school year 7,055,448 fruits and thousands of vegetables sticks were distributed. On a daily basis, members of the Prolepsis Institute and volunteers of the DIATROFI program oversaw the distribution of fruit in schools (that had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected under suitable conditions), while at regular intervals they were also making unannounced visits to the suppliers to verify sanitation during production, packaging and distribution of products.
In addition to the daily checks on weight, flavor and appearance, regular random sampling laboratory tests took place in public and private Collaborating Accredited Food Analysis Laboratories. In multiple analyses of Greek fruit samples (e.g. apple, pear, peach, orange) and vegetables (e.g tomato, cucumber, carrot), no pesticide residues were detected in any of them, with the exception of one case that proved to be harmless and posed no risk to students’ health. Similarly, in random analyses in vegetables (from Crete and Boeotia) the levels of heavy metals where undetectable in all of the suppliers’ products.
The analyses carried out in the academic year 2013-14 under the DIATROFI Program confirm the high quality of Greek fruit and vegetables. It needs to be noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children consume five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
Following the WHO recommendation, the meals were designed to cover 40% of children's needs in fruit and vegetables every day.
The Program on Food Aid and Promotion of Healthy Nutrition – DIATROFI, is being implemented for the third consecutive school year by the Prolepsis Institute, with the primary donation being from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.
The Program is aimed at schools, located in socioeconomic vulnerable areas across the country with a twofold purpose:
– It provides a free small, healthy meal shared by all children of each school
-It promotes healthy nutrition by encouraging students and their families to adopt healthy eating habits that will follow them throughout their lives.
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