A toddler was banned from eating a cheese sandwich – because nursery staff said it broke healthy eating rules.
Jack Ormisher burst into tears when staff at council-funded Westfield Children’s Centre, in Pemberton, Wigan, confiscated the snack.
They refused to let the two-year-old eat the sandwich, which his mum had made for him, and offered him fruit and vegetable snacks instead.
The nursery said that the sandwich was not on its list of recommended foods.
Jack has now been enrolled in a new, private nursery.
Mum Dorothy Gallear, 32, said: “Jack took a cheese sandwich to nursery in his snack box but apparently it breaks their healthy eating policy.”
The mother-of-two, of Drummond Square, Worsley Hall, added: “I think it is absolutely pathetic and these people are playing Big Brother with people’s lives.
“When I told people at his new nursery what had happened, all over a cheese sandwich, some laughed with shock and others were horrified.
“I wouldn’t mind but Jack isn’t a particularly fussy eater. He loves his casseroles and the attitude of the nursery was ridiculous.
“They were really ignorant when I spoke to them.”
Wigan council said the children’s centre looks at national guidelines which recommend a list of healthy food for youngsters.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “The centre has a list of recommended healthy food, according to national guidelines, which children are encouraged to eat. A cheese sandwich would not feature on the list.” She added that no child would ever be denied food.
A spokesman for Westfield Children’s Centre said that a place was still available at the nursery for Jack if his parents wished him to return.
