Free school meals hampers being offered to eligible families by one government contractor are "completely unacceptable", a minister has said.
The company, Chartwells, faced widespread criticism on social media after an angry mother posted a picture of the food parcel she had been sent.
Minister for children Vicky Ford launched an urgent investigation and said late on Tuesday that Chartwells "has rightly apologised and admitted the parcel in question was not good enough".
She said in a statement: "The photos being shared on social media today are completely unacceptable and do not reflect the high standard of free school meals we expect to be sent to children.
"I met their managing director earlier today and he has assured me they have taken immediate action to stop further deliveries of poor-quality parcels.
"They will ensure schools affected are compensated and they will provide additional food to the eligible child in line with our increased funding. "
The image of the Chartwells parcel was posted by an unnamed mother, who goes by the handle "Roadside Mum" on Twitter.
It showed a loaf of bread, a bag of pasta, one can of baked beans, some cheese, three apples, two carrots, one tomato, two baked potatoes, two bananas, two malt loaf snacks, and three snack-size tubes of fromage frais.
She claimed she had been sent just a few pounds' worth of food to feed her child for 10 days - instead of the £30 promised by the scheme.
Families eligible for free school meals have the option of food parcels or vouchers while schools are shut due to a third national lockdown in England.
"I could do more with £30 to be honest," she wrote, adding that she estimated the total value of the goods to be £5.22.
The image was shared more than 27,000 times on Twitter, including by footballer Marcus Rashford, who campaigned to ensure families were supplied with food during lockdown, and who called it "unacceptable".
Chartwells apologised and said that the package the mother was sent was actually only worth £10.50.
"We have had time to investigate the picture circulated on Twitter. For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not 10 days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.
"However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance," they said in a statement.
Manchester United star Rashford earlier tweeted that he had been in touch with Chartwells and that the firm was having a meeting with the Department for Education.
He posted that "once food is supplied to the school network, schools have the autonomy over how the hampers are distributed", and that the problem appeared to have been made worse by the latest lockdown.
"One thing that is clear is that there was very little communication with the suppliers that a national lockdown was coming," said Rashford.
"We MUST do better. Children shouldn't be going hungry on the basis that we aren't communicating or being transparent with plans. That is unacceptable."
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner also retweeted the original Twitter post.
She said: "If the government is allowing companies to make money by providing cut price meals for hungry children we will fight for change. No child should be going hungry."
Several other parents have since come forward and tweeted images of their parcels, including one who said they were "disgusted" at a package containing a "pathetic carrot stub".
She told Sky's Ashna Hurynag: "It was just very upsetting to be honest. It made me feel like a beggar. Tomato soup mix and cheese in money bags made me feel sick. I had to throw it away as I didn't know where it had been.
"This is the first parcel I've ever received. But the school were so quick at communicating with us and switching to the voucher scheme. They also added an extra £10 to this week's allowance to apologise for the problem. The school were horrified by what we received."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: "The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal parcels are a disgrace.
"Where is the money going? This needs sorting immediately so families don't go hungry through lockdown."
Have you been sent a free school meal? Contact us with your experience:
:: Email - news@sky.com
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L21pbmlzdGVyLWJyYW5kcy1mcmVlLXNjaG9vbC1tZWFscy1oYW1wZXItc2VudC10by1tb3RoZXItY29tcGxldGVseS11bmFjY2VwdGFibGUtMTIxODU2MjfSAXdodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvbWluaXN0ZXItYnJhbmRzLWZyZWUtc2Nob29sLW1lYWxzLWhhbXBlci1zZW50LXRvLW1vdGhlci1jb21wbGV0ZWx5LXVuYWNjZXB0YWJsZS0xMjE4NTYyNw?oc=5
2021-01-12 23:48:45Z
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