The revised standards, which for the first time apply to new academies and free schools and those that were established before 2010, are designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible and nutritious meals.
They replace those introduced between 2006 and 2009, which required schools to use a special computer programme to analyse the nutritional content of every menu.
While academies and free schools founded between 2010 and June 2014 remain exempt, the Department for Education said they are being encouraged to sign up to the standards voluntarily.
Despite this, the Local Government Association (LGA) is continuing to call for the school meal standards to be mandatory for all-state funded schools. Its call is being backed by the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
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