Domino’s Pizza stateside recently launched the Domino’s Smart Slice program. Catering to schools, the objective is to provide a healthy alternative to traditional fare. This program allows kids to keep their beloved pizza day while meeting the new nutrition guidelines that many school boards have adopted in an effort to provide better nutrition and combat childhood obesity.
The Smart Slice pizza is made with white whole wheat, which will increase fibre, and is lower in fat and sodium—two nutrients that tend to be high in pizza, and which, particularly in the case of sodium, most children get far more of than they need. The hope is that these fresh baked pizzas will not only be better nutritionally but also tastier than the frozen varieties many schools have used in the past.
Pizza Day has become a mainstay of ‘special lunch’ days and a welcome change from routine for many school children. While the Smart Slice pizzas do not meet Health Check criteria, improving the nutrient profile of their pizzas is certainly a step in the right direction.
It would be great to see this or any other enterprising pizza maker in Canada rise to the challenge of creating pizzas for schools that do meet Health Check criteria—with things like whole wheat crust, more veggies, less processed meat and less sodium, in a tasty product that kids will love.
Let’s hope they take up the challenge!
