Meet the 2025 Children’s Food Awards finalists!

Throughout Autumn 2024, we searched for the Yummy heroes of children’s food: inspiring individuals, creative campaigners, and local champions making sure children access healthy, sustainable food. We also sought the Yucky villains – companies hindering kids’ access to nutritious meals.

With a fantastic response across 10 awards categories, half open to public nominations and half led by award partners, and we're excited to share the finalists with you here and announce the winners on 25 February 2025.

Here are the top 3 finalists for each award category

Awards nominated by the public

Awards led by partners

1. Political Leadership in Championing Children's Healthy Food  

For this award we were looking for politicians and policymakers who stuck their neck out during 2023-24 to improve children’s food, through their own initiatives, lobbying for regulations and investment and/or speaking out in public.

Finalist: House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity

The House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity, chaired by Baroness Joan Walmsley, was tasked with considering the role of foods, such as ‘ultra-processed foods’, and foods high in fat, salt and sugar, in a healthy diet and tackling obesity. The judges praised their extensive inquiry, which gathered input from young people, health professionals, and food experts to inform the comprehensive report Recipe for Health, published in October 2024. While not specifically focused on children’s food, the report made strong recommendations concerning children’s food, including on breastfeeding, early years, school food, and protecting children from harmful marketing. It was a defining political intervention on healthier food in 2024.

Finalist: Tower Hamlets Council

In September 2023, Tower Hamlets became the first local authority to introduce universal free school meals (UFSM) for all secondary school pupils up to 16. The initiative now provides healthy, freshly cooked meals to 8,500 students, with 82% take-up, including a particularly significant increase among those eligible for free meals. The programme has also improved student behaviour and reduced meal-sharing. They are also running a Fantastic Food in Schools initiative, working in 40 primary schools, promoting training, healthy family dining, parent engagement and taster sessions, underpinned with enhanced healthy food standards. The judges praised the council’s leadership in improving school food policies, from menu planning to engaging with parents, teachers, and caterers. Tower Hamlets is pioneering the delivery of universal school meals at the secondary level and setting a new standard.

Finalist: Carolyn Wilson and the early years team, Scottish Government

Carolyn Wilson (Scottish Government Unit Head for supporting maternal and child wellbeing) and team (specifically Gillian McMillan and Emma Williams) has led a two-year collaboration to create Scotland’s guide for addressing and preventing infant food insecurity. Their innovative work offers a model with potential applicability across the UK and other high-income nations. By dedicating considerable time to understanding the issues and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, they have produced valuable resources that focus on the most vulnerable, providing guidance on breastfeeding, infant formula, and access to support schemes. Judges welcomed policies being actively promoted and implemented.

2. Championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Children's Food

For this award we were looking to recognise an individual or organisation that has actively delivered diverse and inclusive children’s food policies or practices in 2023-24.

Finalist: Leicester Mammas
Leicester Mammas is a small charity that works locally while also engaging in national advocacy, using their experience of supporting families to feed their babies. They feed into national advocacy for stronger marketing restrictions on breastmilk substitutes and have presented research on supporting food-insecure families with infant feeding to the APPG on Infant Feeding and Inequalities. Their work also includes media engagement and regular communication with local MPs. In practice, they provide non-judgmental support for breastfeeding and safe and appropriate formula feeding, and focus particularly on refugee and migrant families. The judges loved their innovative model of peer 'mammas' offering training, workshops, and advice, reflecting Leicester's ethnic diversity. They bring valuable frontline experience to national policy makers and their work makes a demonstrable difference to the families they serve, enabling vulnerable babies in Leicester to eat well from the start of life.

Finalist: Changing Realities project

Changing Realities is a participatory online project engaging over 100 parents and carers living on a low income across the UK. In collaboration with academics from the University of York and Child Poverty Action Group, supported by artists, the project shares lived experiences through various platforms, aiming to influence public, media, and government action. The judges were impressed by how central the voices of parents and carers were to the project, using traditional methods like parliamentary engagement alongside creative approaches such as zines, poems, and podcasts. While food is not the sole focus, it is a key element of their campaign, and there is a strong potential for wider impact through their toolkit for involving lived expertise in research and policy.

Finalist: The School Meals Service

The ESRC-funded School Meals project, a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Wolverhampton, and UCL, addresses disparities in school meal provision across the UK, promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in children's food. By using archival research, oral histories, and ethnography, the project highlights the lived experiences of children, families, and school staff. Focusing on socio-economic, ethnic, and geographical inequalities, it examines the impact of school meals on health, wellbeing, and education. The project has collaborated closely with the APPG for School Food and contributed to the 2023 POSTNote on Child Food Insecurity and Free School Meals, ensuring its research has direct impact on national policy discussions. The judges were particularly impressed by the use of ethnography and oral history to provide deeper insights into school food experiences.

3. Children's Food Commercial Villain

For this award we were looking for the companies or industry bodies that are putting profit before young people, standing in the way of progress on children’s food or actively obstructing children accessing healthier food.

Finalist: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
KFC has challenged at least 43 English councils over their planning policies that restrict new hot food takeaways, successfully stopping or watering down local efforts to champion children's health in more than half of cases. The Food Foundation's Broken Plate report last year revealed that there is a hot food takeaway for approximately every 1200 people in the UK. KFC has over 1000 stores in the UK, and continued to expand in 2024. Following fast expansion, in November 2024 KFC also dropped a 2019 pledge to stop using fast growing chickens by 2026 (dubbed “Frankenchickens”). This nomination is backed by evidence from journalistic investigations, as well as information provided directly to Sustain from councils.

Finalist: Ella’s Kitchen
Ella’s Kitchen, a leading UK baby and young child food brand, claims to promote healthy eating and increase fruit and vegetable consumption. However, the brand received several nominations raising concerns regarding their marketing practices, including labelling their products as suitable from 4+ months, which contradicts government guidance recommending exclusive breastfeeding or formula feeding until 6 months. These products may displace nutrient-rich milk intake as a result. Ella’s Kitchen runs promotions associating their products with fresh fruit and vegetables, but fails to highlight the high free sugar content in their products. Judges also noted that in their submission to the Lords' inquiry on Food, Diet and Obesity, Ella's Kitchen compared their portfolio to a list of largely incomparable items to downplay the sugary profile of their own products. The reliance on purees and pouch design used by Ella’s and other companies also nominated in this category, can be detrimental to teeth development, particularly when marketed at such young infants, and undermine other healthier weaning practices.

Finalist: Ferrero
Ferrero were nominated by members of the public in this category for their 2024 Nutella advert which the implies family harmony if you eat Nutella for breakfast on everything from porridge to fruit salads. There is no front-of-pack labelling on the jars, but they contain 56.3g sugar per 100g and 10.6g saturated fat. It counts one portion as 15g, so this is approximately 8.4g sugar in each dollop on toast or cereal (or as they suggest even a child’s fruit salad)! Judges agreed that this campaign was irresponsibly encouraging families to add sugary chocolate to what would otherwise be healthy breakfasts.

4. Worst Example of Health-Washing in Children's Food

For this award we were looking to recognise companies using techniques to make food and drinks seem healthier than they are through questionable marketing, packaging and labelling claims.

Finalist: Kiddylicious
Kiddylicious promotes its products with claims like "promotes self-feeding" and "offer developmental benefits, that can aid your little one with self-feeding, learning to chew and help to hone their hand to mouth coordination", suggesting developmental benefits, but these can be achieved more healthily with homemade snacks or fresh fruit and vegetables. Misleading labels like "no added preservatives" and images of fruit and vegetables create a false impression of healthiness, while the actual ingredients are mostly potato and corn starch, with minimal vegetable powder. Judges agreed that these snacks are not real food and foster unhealthy snacking habits in young children.

Finalist: Burger King
Burger King’s "Bundles of Joy" campaign, promoting their deliveries as the ideal post-childbirth meal, has drawn criticism for its misleading approach. Partnering with Mumsnet to claim that 39% of post-partum women crave fast food like burgers and fries, the campaign attempts to lend authenticity to an unhealthy message, though the transparency of the research is unclear. Ignoring well-established evidence on the importance of maternal nutrition for child development, the campaign has been condemned by health professionals for emotional manipulation, encouraging new mothers to opt for fast food rather than nutritious meals. Judges agreed that the campaign is a prime example of health-washing in advertising.

Finalist: Aptamil 3 Toddler Milk
This product was nominated for having both misleading marketing and unnecessary composition. Targeted at 1-3-year-olds with numerous health claims, it is ultimately an highly processed drink made from skimmed milk that could easily be replaced by regular cow's milk (or an unsweetened plant-based alternative). Despite its claims of being beneficial for children, it contains almost as much sugar as a Yazoo chocolate milkshake (14.1g of free sugars per day) as well as fish oil, making it unsuitable for vegetarians. At £5.25 per litre, it’s an expensive product offering minimal nutritional benefits, masking its ultra-processed ingredients with a facade of health benefits. Judges noted guidance from the NHS that these toddler or ‘growing up’ milks are not necessary for healthy child development.

5. Recipe Most in Need of Change

For this award we were looking for the most unhealthy products that are targetted at children and families and where the recipe really needs to change.

Finalist: Gourmet Burger Kitchen's children's meals
In 2024, Action on Salt surveyed the salt content of children's meals in 37 UK restaurants, revealing alarming results. Nearly 50% of meals contained at least half of a child’s daily salt limit, with some exceeding it in one meal. Additionally, one in five businesses failed to disclose salt content online, and only six met the government’s voluntary salt targets for children’s meals. While multiple restaurants were highlighted for improvement, Gourmet Burger King's children's meals were the saltiest, averaging 3.06g of salt per meal -exceeding the recommended daily limit for 4-6 year olds, and this is why they were nominated for this category.

Finalist: Fruit Bowl Strawberry Yoghurt Flakes
These strawberry yoghurt flakes have been nominated for their exceptionally high sugar content. Each serving contains 13g of sugar, contributing to a staggering 62% sugar content overall (including from both fruit and added sugars). This makes the product far above recommended sugar limits for children, raising concerns about its impact on children's health, particularly given its packaging which is designed to be appealing to children. Judges agreed that reformulation is urgently needed to reduce the sugar content.

Finalist: Farley’s Rusk Reduced Sugar biscuits
Despite its name, this product, targeted at babies as young as six months, is still high in added sugars, which are not suitable for this age group. With 20.1g of sugar per 100g, it even contains about 33% more sugar than McVitie's Digestives (15.1g per 100g). While its sugar level is lower than that of standard Rusks, the excessive sugar is unnecessary and is misleadingly masked by the 'reduced sugar' label. The public nominator and the judges agreed this product should be reformulated to be less sweet overall, to avoid contributing to sweet taste preferences or tooth decay.

6. School Food Campaign Legend (Award partner: Bremner & Co)

For this award we wanted to recognise an individual who is having a significant impact in the world of school food, to increase healthiness, quality and access to school food, whether breakfast, lunch or during school holidays, or through food education.

Fiona Black
Fiona Black has revolutionised school food education and access at The Halifax Academy, benefiting students, families, and the wider community. She revamped traditional Food Tech by focusing on seasonal, surplus, and budget-friendly methods while prioritising practical skills, nutrition, and sustainability. Fiona established a community kitchen producing over 30,000 meals annually, serving more than 250 families weekly to address food insecurity. She also launched a school garden project for hands-on food production experience and developed a voucher scheme to provide fresh produce to over 1,000 people. By incorporating surplus food into school meals, she reduces waste and teaches students about food systems. The judges praised Fiona’s pioneering role in turning school catering into a community-serving initiative and empowering students as advocates for healthy food, making her a worthy candidate for recognition whose work could inspire others to build their own models.

Finalist: Prof. Greta Defeyter
Greta Defeyter, Director of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University, has over 20 years of experience addressing food insecurity and shaping school food programmes. Her research, especially on the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, has influenced UK policy, demonstrating that it improves nutrition and reduces social isolation for families. In 2023-24 she also pioneered HAF+ making these programmes more suitable for older teenagers, including more skills and career supporting opportunities. Known for her collaborative approach, Greta works with diverse stakeholders, including government bodies and charities, and prioritises involving children in her research. The judges praised her work tackling inequalities, co-designing solutions with lived experience, and her commitment to justice and dignity, recognising her as a respected, solution-focused figure in school food.

Finalist: Stephanie Slater
Stephanie Slater is the founder and CEO of School Food Matters, and a leading advocate for equitable access to healthy school meals, tirelessly campaigning for improvements in the school food system. As leader of School Food Matters, she has expanded from a local programme in London to a highly respected national organisation. In 2024, she championed the School Food Review “virtuous venn” diagram, harmonising policies on access, quality, and funding, and led the Two Cities campaign to address meal access disparities between London and Liverpool. Stephanie also championed the Cost of a School Meal report, highlighting funding gaps and advocating for systemic change. Highly respected for her collaborative approach and comprehensive vision, Stephanie's work has had a profound impact, earning her widespread recognition.

7. Early Years Nutrition Legend (Award partner: First Steps Nutrition Trust)

For this award we were looking for organisations or individuals with no commercial interests who are making a meaningful difference to diets, nutrition or the food environment for pregnant or breastfeeding women and/or for babies and young children.

Finalist: Early Start Nutrition
Edwina and Georgia, the team behind Early Start Nutrition, are pioneers in early years nutrition, offering vital support locally in Newham and nationally. Both registered nutritionists, they created online training to improve nutrition provision in early years settings and enhance practitioners' skills. Their training covers 10 essential topics, including infant nutrition, menu planning, and food policy, all aligned with the EYFS Framework and relevant guidelines. Engaging and interactive, the training includes activities, videos, and quizzes to help practitioners apply their learning. Between April 2023 and March 2024, nearly 300 practitioners completed the training, showing significant knowledge improvement. The judges praised their clear, impactful resources, highlighting the positive changes their work has brought to early years settings and families.

Finalist: Tiny Tums Best Practice Award
The Tiny Tums award, led by the Public Health Dietetics team at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, supports Early Years Settings in North Wales in meeting food standards. This initiative recognises childcare settings for children aged 0-4 that achieve best practice in food provision, aligning with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) standards and Welsh Government guidelines. Settings can earn awards for meals, snacks, or both, promoting healthy eating, food education, and family engagement. The programme also ensures staff training in early years nutrition. The Tiny Tums award helps settings demonstrate their commitment to children’s health and provides parents with confidence through its visible logo. The judges praised the initiative for its innovative approach to ensuring healthy food in early years settings, noting its adaptability for different age groups and its focus on staff training in nutrition.

Finalist: The Breastfeeding Network
The Breastfeeding Network (BFN) is a national charity offering vital support for infant feeding, including the National Breastfeeding Helpline, peer support services, and the unique 'Drugs in Breastmilk' service, which provides expert advice from pharmacists to challenge common myths about breastfeeding and medication. In 2024, they expanded the helpline to a 24-hour service, run largely by volunteers. In a context of limited government investment in breastfeeding support, BFN's work is crucial, particularly as many women stop breastfeeding earlier than they wish. CEO Catherine Hines is an influential advocate for breastfeeding and safe formula feeding. The judges praised BFN's collaborative approach and focus on inclusivity, especially in supporting Black Breastfeeding Week and maternal mental health.

8. Children’s Food Young Changemaker (Award partner: Bite Back)

This award was open for any young person up to the age of 21, who has taken initiative in 2023-24 to improve the food system in their school or college, or with their local community, or via raising awareness or teaching skills to others.

Finalist: Saf
Saf speaks out about the struggles of autistic young people with food and particularly the impact of food insecurity on children on the spectrum. Saf feels strongly about families paying too much for unhealthy food and wants healthy food to be cheaper and more accessible. They are a Food Ambassador for The Food Foundation and have received The Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards 2023. The judges loved the way Saf champions the connections between food security, mental health and neurodiversity. Their leadership exemplifies the vital role of diverse voices in food policy discussions, making them a deserving candidate for the Children’s Food Young Changemaker Award.

Finalist: Brooke
Brooke, from Greater Manchester, is a passionate writer and classical literature enthusiast who joined Bite Back as a youth activist to address the "broken relationship" young people have with food. Brooke believes healthier options should get more of the spotlight: "Eating healthy is simply not a viable choice for many young people: healthier options generally can't compete with the affordability of fast food.” The judges loved the initiative Brooke has shown, at the age of just 16, to lead Bite Back's campaign to ban junk food advertising in her city centre. As part of this she met with Mayor Andy Burnham’s policy team – and he listened! Judges were impressed with the impressive amount Brooke has achieved, and believe she’ll continue to make a great impact on our food system.

Finalist: Elsie, George & Esmee
Elsie, George and Esmee are Year 10 students from Yorkshire who led the way with an ambitious campaign to transform their canteen environment and school food offer last academic year when they were just 13-14 years old. They each managed different parts of the process and oversaw teams of Year 7 & 8 students. The judges loved the practical change that these young people brought to their school, using a democratic and inclusive approach. While their work was localised, focusing on their own school, the judges thought their work shows fantastic potential to take that initiative, inspire other young activists, and have a much greater impact on the wider food system.

9. Best Local Healthy Food Advertising Policy (Nominations led by Sustain’s Commercial Determinants Coordinator Fran Bernhardt)

This award is for a council or local authority who has developed and implemented a high-quality healthier food advertising policy during 2023-24, and is showing the way so that others can replicate and deliver greater impact.

Finalist: Tower Hamlets Council
Tower Hamlets have been actively pursuing a strong implementation of their policy and as they are the council that most closely aligns with Sustain recommendations on robust implementation, they are setting new ambitious precedents for others to follow. Judges noted their additional leadership in co-organising meetings with Sustain for councils that have implemented policies to provide support for implementation and the team’s willingness to regularly speak with other councils hoping to bring in a policy, and offer presentations to share their insights.

Finalist: Knowsley Council
Knowsley have signed off on policy guidance that is the closest Sustain has to gold standard, and judges also noted their leadership in sharing good practice. They regularly give presentations and speak with other councils hoping to bring in a policy, ensuring others can replicate their great work.

Finalist: Hounslow Council
Hounslow recently signed off their excellent healthy food advertising policy, which is also the first council policy ever to bring in comprehensive measures on baby food advertising. This ambitious, robust precedent will help to raise the standard for future policies.

10. Best Local Initiative Championing Children’s Healthy Food (Award partner: Soil Association)

For this award we were looking for local projects, campaigns or organisations working with grassroots community groups and networks, particularly with initiatives that other local areas might want to learn from and replicate.  

Finalist: Cegin y Bobl
Cegin y Bobl, a Welsh charity launched in 2024, builds on the success of Cook24 to transform Wales' relationship with food. The charity addressed challenges like food insecurity and declining local food knowledge by offering hands-on cooking courses for diverse groups, including primary school children, foodbank users, and rural communities. Their work has expanded food choices, improved mealtime attitudes, and empowered families to be more self-sufficient in the kitchen, enhancing nutrition and well-being. The charity plans to expand across Wales, collaborating with local chefs to create scalable food education programmes. The judges praised its ambitious, community-driven approach and potential for to be scaled and replicated elsewhere.

Finalist: Give Peas a Chance!
The "Give Peas a Chance!" pilot project introduces locally grown, organic peas into school meals while educating pupils on sustainable and healthy food. A collaboration between Soil Association Scotland, Aberdeen City Council, Balmakewan Farm, Royal Highland Education Trust and Royal Northern Countryside Initiative, and funded by Sustain’s Bridging the Gap progamme, it has integrated locally grown peas into 61 school sites, serving 13,500 meals daily. The project features 12 innovative recipes, including lemon and pea risotto, showcasing peas as a versatile, climate-friendly protein. Educational activities like classroom talks and competitions teach students about sustainability and healthy habits. The initiative supports local farming, improves soil health, and reduces food waste. The judges loved its innovation, as well as its integration of sustainability into school meals, and potential for wider replication.

Finalist: Food for Thought
The Food for Thought project, run by Devon Community Foundation in partnership with Barnstaple Town Council, supported young people aged 13-18 facing food insecurity or anxieties from October 2023 to October 2024. The initiative connected participants with local farmers and food producers in North Devon through cookery sessions, farm visits, and exposure to local food businesses. Participants gained confidence in growing, cooking, and improved their diets, with many considering careers in food. The project also sparked important discussions about access to healthy, local food. The judges praised the project's inclusive approach, its holistic learning experience covering farming, cooking, and healthy diets, and its replication in five other areas in Devon, enhancing its impact and potential for wider success.

Read the full criteria for each award

Meet the judges