DGE Quality Standards: Germany’s Benchmark for Canteen, School and Daycare Food

The DGE quality standards are the main reference for food served in German daycare centres, schools, workplace canteens, public authorities, universities, hospitals and care homes. They are published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE, German Nutrition Society) and define which foods should appear how often, how meals are prepared and served, and which sustainability criteria apply. The current editions date from 2023. They are recommendations unless a federal state, an operator or a contract makes them mandatory. Compliance can be demonstrated through the DGE-VerpflegungsCheck, which replaced the former DGE certification.

Five standards, five settings

Setting	Current edition	Focus
Daycare (Kita)	6th edition, 2nd corrected and updated reprint, 2023	Breakfast, snacks and lunch for young children
Schools	5th edition, 2nd corrected and updated reprint, 2023	Separate quantities for primary and secondary level
Workplaces, public authorities, universities	6th edition, 2023	Lunch, snacks and vending machines
Hospitals	2023 version	Patient catering
Care homes and meals on wheels	2023 version	Needs of older people, home delivery

All five are free to download from the DGE website, with an English overview page available. Each standard includes a checklist for assessing your current offer.

What the standards specify

Food groups and frequencies

The core is a set of tables showing the best food choices and frequencies over five serving days. For lunch with mixed diet:

Food group	Schools (5 days)	Workplaces (5 days)
Grains, potatoes	daily, at least 1 × wholegrain	daily, at least 1 × wholegrain
Vegetables, salad	daily, at least 2 × raw, at least 1 × pulses	daily, at least 2 × raw, at least 1 × pulses
Fruit	at least 2 ×	at least 2 ×
Dairy	at least 2 ×	at least 2 ×
Meat and sausage	max. 1 ×	max. 2 ×
Fish	1 ×	1 ×
Standard fat	rapeseed oil	rapeseed oil

Both standards also require a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) option every day.

Menu planning and labelling

Menus should be published in advance, name dishes clearly and declare allergens in line with Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Seasonal produce, cultural and religious dietary needs and guest feedback are part of planning.

Preparation and serving

For hot-held food, no more than 3 hours should pass between the end of cooking and serving the last guest, at a minimum of 65 °C.

Sustainability

Since the revisions from 2020 onwards, sustainability is built in: more plant-based food, organic produce, fish from sustainable fisheries, meat preferably from higher animal welfare systems, seasonal food, food waste prevention and reusables instead of disposables. Organic shares can be shown with Germany’s organic catering logo, see organic food in canteens.

Legal status

The DGE is a non-profit association, not a legislator. The standards become binding in three ways:

• State rules and funding guidelines: some federal states and many municipalities require school or daycare meals to follow the DGE standard or link subsidies to it.
• Public tenders: contracting authorities can include the standard in the technical specifications, see our guide to public catering tenders in Germany.
• Private contracts: companies can write it into the lease or service contract with their caterer.

The DGE-VerpflegungsCheck

According to the DGE, the DGE-VerpflegungsCheck replaces the earlier certification:

• Criteria derived from the standards are turned into weighted yes/no questionnaires.
• Each check relates to one menu line for the target group, mixed or vegetarian.
• Variants exist for kitchens cooking in-house, sites using a DGE-checked menu line from a caterer, caterers themselves and operators with several sites.
• The offer must actually be served on site and be clearly marked on the menu; the DGE mentions on-site and online audits.
• Successful participants receive the label ‘DGE-geprüfte Qualität’ (DGE-checked quality).

Costs and validity are available from the DGE on request. Older certificates and logos may still be in circulation, so ask caterers when they were last checked and which menu line was assessed.

Putting it into practice

1. Compare the last four weeks of menus with the checklist.
2. Prioritise. The DGE itself notes that cutting meat from daily to three times a week is progress when the target is once a week.
3. Write the criteria into the contract or specification, with clear evidence such as menus, recipes and delivery notes.
4. Involve kitchen staff, management, parents or employees early.
5. Review regularly with self-checks, guest surveys and, if useful, the VerpflegungsCheck.

Common misunderstandings

• ‘DGE means vegetarian.’ No. The standards describe a mixed diet with limited meat plus a vegetarian menu line. Meat and fish stay on the menu, just less often than in many current menus.
• ‘It only applies to schools.’ There are separate editions for daycare, workplaces, hospitals and care homes.
• ‘A DGE label guarantees quality forever.’ A label refers to one menu line at one point in time. Recipes, staff and suppliers change, so regular self-checks remain important.

Questions to ask a caterer

• Which DGE standard and menu line do you plan to? Do you hold ‘DGE-geprüfte Qualität’ or an older certificate, and from when?
• How many days a week do you serve meat, pulses and wholegrains?
• How long is food held hot before serving?
• What is your organic share and how is it verified?

You can browse sustainable providers in our caterer directory. For the bigger picture across canteens, schools and hospitals, read our guide to sustainable public catering, and for schools in particular see school and daycare catering.