The health-crazed Bloomberg administration often touts how it has overhauled school lunches and slashed calories - but critics charge the standard cafeteria fare is still far from healthy.
A Daily News survey found lunchrooms routinely serve highly processed foods such as mozzarella sticks and pizza, which critics charge are loaded with preservatives and other unhealthy ingredients.
"It's more window dressing than real change," said nutritionistSusan Rubin, founder of the Westchester-based advocacy group Better School Food. "Just cutting the calories and fat doesn't make this processed food healthy."
The simple-sounding toasted cheese sandwich on oat bread is a case in point: Ingredient lists obtained by The News show the frozen sandwich contains more than 30 ingredients - including high-fructose corn syrup, which officials have vowed to cut out.
"It just looks so greasy, you can tell it's unhealthy," said Schnedie Dorizan, 16, a junior at Clara Barton High School inBrooklyn.
Nutritionists said processing foods, such as turning chicken into nuggets, removes nutrients while adding possibly unhealthy preservatives and fillers. Processed foods also pack more sugar, fat and salt to make up for flavors lost in processing.
Pizza is served regularly in city schools. Bronx high schools were scheduled to offer pizza at least nine times this month.
Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/02/01/2010-02-01_untitled__lunch01m.html#ixzz0eI9o0BHu