School lunch menus in Newham will be widened to include sustainable fish after a report accused the council of not doing enough to promote healthy eating.

The borough was among those singled out by the London Food Link, a network of caterers and food sellers, of lagging behind when it comes to providing healthy and sustainable food for schools, signing catering commitments, and carrying out a food waste collection.

But it has now promised to improve its menu by making non-endangered fish species available to pupils and other customers.

Neighbouring Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest were praised in the same report for providing leadership when it came to food provision and waste.

Newham does not have the Food for Life catering mark, which officially recognised caterers for serving freshly prepared and additive free food. But it is in the process of applying for the bronze standard.

However, the borough has achieved Fairtrade status and was praised for supporting community food growing projects. Free range eggs have also been used in school meals for the last 18 months.

A Newham Council spokesman said: “The council provides a food waste collection to 33 schools.

“The food waste is taken to a wormery and turned into compost which schools can then use for their grow your own projects.

“Schools can also compost a large amount of food waste on site, and each school can apply to the council for three free composting bins.”