Prune burgers for school meals?

Prunes are already used as a fat substitute in the US

The fatty burger and the grease-flavoured pizza could be pushed off the school dinner table by a Californian contribution to healthy living - the prune.

Or at least that's the ambition of the Californian prune industry, which is targeting the diet of schoolchildren in the United Kingdom as ripe for the arrival of their fruit.

Prune facts

In 1905, monkeys were used to pick prunes during a labour shortage in California

Prunes are dried plums: but while all prunes are plums, not all plums are prunes

Finland and France have the highest per capita prune consumption

California produces 70% of the world's prunes

This is not a revival of stewed prunes in custard - as the new-look prune product is "dried prune puree", which is offered to schools as a substitute for cooking fat.

So instead of using fat, butter or oil when making burgers or pizzas or any kind of pastry, the Californian Prune Board says schools should be using prune puree, which it says will "dramatically cut the fat content" of the meal.

But the prune ("the black nuggets of California") will not threaten the native chip - as the puree does not extend to being used as a medium for frying.

The prune board says that the use of prune puree as a fat substitute is already proving popular in the United States and Japan.

'Prune the fat'

A spokesperson for the board says using prunes does not alter the flavour, but will create a moister texture and will greatly improve the nutritional value of food.

This sales pitch on the prune, also promoted through their recipe book, Prune the Fat, comes in the wake of the government's latest efforts to improve the diets of schoolchildren.

Guidelines for school meals, published last week, established minimum nutritional levels and sought to promote a more balanced diet.

But critics claimed that there were still too many opportunities for a "chips with everything" approach to school meals.

And this week, there have been further complaints from school nurses that whatever improvements are made in school could be undermined by children buying unhealthy food from burger vans outside school gates.