Croydon's school dinners have been given the thumbs up by a Government-approved nutrition charity.

The meals were compared with nutrition guidelines published by the Caroline Walker Trust and found to be more than adequate.

The charity's guidelines have been endorsed by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

The report states a meal in one of Croydon's primary school provides children with the recommended levels of energy, carbohydrates, fibre, protein, calcium, iron and vitamins A and C. Levels of saturated fats were lower than the guidelines permit.

New menus were introduced in May in schools signed up to the local education authority's contract with Initial Catering, which provides 11,300 meals a day in 87 primary schools across the borough.

The menus include dishes such as Spanish quiche, lamb moussaka, pasta bakes, home-made bread and fruit and salad bars.

More than £290,000 was spent between 2004 and 2005 on updating kitchens and buying new equipment in order for cooks to be able to freshly prepare 75 per cent of the meals in-house.

Councillor Louisa Woodley, cabinet member for education, said: "Following Jamie Oliver's programme School Dinners, there has been a lot of attention about the type of meals offered. Croydon LEA has always been committed to providing children with a quality and affordable meal at school so it's pleasing to have an independent body confirm that our school meals are good for you."

She added that many of the borough's schools are working towards achieving healthy school status.