Nursery World - Quality all round

How predictable! Every time I say children should be given only the best in food and drink (Letters, 19 October), someone jumps in to say something like 'Oh, a little bit of junk won't do them any harm!' (Letters, 23 November). I was complaining about the use of sugary, chemically-coloured and flavoured ingredients in nursery cooking projects. We have different standards in other areas, such as equipment. For example, in the 4 January Nursery World there was an excellent supplement on books in which nurseries were urged to stock only the highest-quality books. No hint of 'but of course the occasional badly-written or poorly-illustrated book is all right'.

I was complaining about the use of sugary, chemically-coloured and flavoured ingredients in nursery cooking projects. We have different standards in other areas, such as equipment. For example, in the 4 January Nursery World there was an excellent supplement on books in which nurseries were urged to stock only the highest-quality books. No hint of 'but of course the occasional badly-written or poorly-illustrated book is all right'.

Why the different standard? A gap in our training? Shortage of ideas for junk-free cooking activities? I think we've now got to the situation where many parents are ahead of nursery professionals.

Ellen Nesbit, London

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