Jamie Oliver's got it wrong... let us eat cake say boarding schools

Boarding schools are demanding the right to let their pupils eat cake in defiance of government rules.

Headteachers say children in state boarding schools need "homely" food at the end of the day and a biscuit snack mid-morning to keep them going.

The Boarding Schools Association is writing to Education Secretary Michael Gove urging him to reform "crazy" regulations introduced in the wake of Jamie Oliver's healthy school food campaign.

All food served to state school pupils between 8am and 6pm must comply with strict limits on sugar, salt and fat levels. But the BSA said children at day schools could eat what they like at home in the afternoon and for breakfast, while the 4,000 pupils at state boarding schools in England do not have the same choices. BSA director Hilary Moriarty said: "It is grossly unfair."

Melvyn Roffe, head of Wymondham College in Norfolk, said he was told he faced a court injunction with the threat of jail or a hefty fine if he fed pupils biscuits and cakes during the day.

The School Food Trust said the regulations were "an important part of the continuing work to transform school food".