Stuart Spencer, CEO of Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia, has slammed an initiative to ban snack foods in New Zealand’s primary schools. Spencer argues that the healthy eating scheme is a high-handed tactic.


Amanda Coulston, national president of the Education Institute, insisted meanwhile that the whole community should support the effort to encourage healthy eating.


An ever-growing proportion of the country’s 2,500 primary schools are taking part in the ban, which can mean that children face detention if they arrive for classes with foods such as sweets, soft drinks or crisps.