Portugal's School Canteens Must Drop Fried Snacks Like Croquettes and Serve Sweet Desserts No More Than Once a Month Under New Menu Guidelines
New guidelines for public school canteens on the mainland, published on 16 October, remove rissóis, croquettes and salt cod fritters from menus, allow a sweet dessert once a month and bar high-mercury fish. What changes for pupils and what parents should know.
Public school canteens in mainland Portugal are to stop serving rissóis, croquetes and salt cod fritters, and to offer a sweet dessert no more than once a month, under new menu guidance published on Friday 16 October, World Food Day.
The Orientações para Ementas e Refeitórios Escolares 2026 (Guidelines for School Menus and Canteens 2026) come from EduQA (Instituto de Educação, Qualidade e Avaliação, the Institute for Education, Quality and Assessment), which took over the work of the former Direção-Geral da Educação (DGE, Directorate-General for Education). The institute's announcement says it was written with the Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS, Directorate-General of Health) through its national healthy eating programme. It replaces the 2018 guidance issued with Circular n.º 3097/DGE/2018.
Which schools
It applies to every public school on the mainland, at every level from pre-school to secondary, whether the canteen is run by the municipality or directly by the school. Private schools are invited, not required, to follow it. The document is dated October 2026 but does not set a start date.
What changes on the tray
- Fried savoury snacks are out. Prepared meat and fish products "such as rissóis, bolinhos/pastéis de bacalhau, croquetes" must not appear on school menus. Rissóis are small breaded pastries with a meat or shrimp filling; croquetes are breaded, fried meat rolls; bolinhos de bacalhau are salt cod fritters.
- Sweet desserts once a month. Dessert is fresh fruit, at least three kinds daily. A dairy dessert, jelly or milk ice cream may be served once a month, and cooked or baked fruit without sugar once a month, on different days. The new document lists fewer sweet desserts among its main changes from the 2018 version.
- Processed fish and meat. Fish fingers, nuggets and crab sticks are barred where the product has more than 40 percent less animal protein than the original food; the document lists this among its "additional" criteria, not its mandatory minimums. Burgers and meatballs are limited to twice a month and must be at least 80 percent meat.
- High-mercury fish. Fresh tuna, dogfish (cação), swordfish, ling (maruca), blue shark (tintureira), pata-roxa and scabbardfish (peixe-espada) may not be served.
- Soup. It must always be vegetable based, so canja (chicken broth) and fish soup cannot be on the menu, although a kitchen that can make one may still serve it now and then to someone who needs it for health reasons. Puréed soups are limited to twice a week.
What stays
Meat and fish still alternate daily, with fish served at least as often as meat over a month and red meat at most four times a month. Eggs as the only protein are allowed once a week, and frying twice a month. Bread must be mixed grain or wholemeal, salt must be iodised, and water is the only drink allowed in the canteen. A vegetarian option is still required every day under Lei n.º 11/2017.
For parents
The guidelines say menus should be posted at the school and on its website at least 10 working days in advance, so families can choose between the standard and vegetarian menus. Pupils may choose how much they take and have a second helping, provided they do not refuse or waste any part of the meal, "namely the soup". The document recommends at least 30 minutes for lunch, not counting time in the queue.
The document also restates that the education ministry pays the full cost of lunch for pupils in band A of Ação Social Escolar (ASE, school social support), with other pupils paying a price set by their band. In September, Entroncamento stopped serving lunch to pupils with unpaid meal accounts.
