Fruit, vegetables and freshly made food will make up at least 75 per cent of NSW school canteen menus as part of a new overhaul aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
Freshly made food options will include sandwiches, salads, pastas and stir fries.
Remaining menu offerings will need to have a Health Star Rating of 3.5 stars or higher under the Healthy School Canteens Strategy, announced on Tuesday.
The strategy replaces the "traffic light" system in schools, which experts have found to be overly complex and too narrow in its consideration of nutrition, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Cake stalls or fundraising initiatives will not be affected by the changes, and pies, sausage rolls and pizzas can be available provided they are above the 3.5 star Health Star Rating.
Ms Berejiklian said the overhaul would go some way in helping her achieve achieve her "Premier's Priority" of reducing childhood obesity by five per cent by 2025.
"Obesity has significant health impacts for children with around one in five NSW children between the ages of 5 and 16 being overweight or obese," she said in a statement on Tuesday.
Education Minister Rob Stokes said the strategy, which will be phased in over three years, offered a simpler, easier to understand menus consistent with federal government guidelines on healthy food.
"This is not about restricting choice - it's about ensuring the choices of food available are healthy ones," he said.
