14 school lunch items from the 1970s that schools are no longer allowed to serve - how many do you remember?

The staple of any school disco, candy cigarettes were still being sold in the 00s and were the first thing I would pick up after the pick and mix. Sold in packaging that often featured cartoon characters, me and my friends would often pretend to be kids smoking as we chomped on the hardened sugar.

However, studies later found that people who often enjoyed these sweets would go on to start smoking, leading to their phase out. Several countries have outright banned the sweets, although in the UK they're now marketed as candy sticks to avoid the association with cigarettes.

It's one of the most classic meals that our parents and grandparents regularly enjoyed, and so, of course, beef liver and onions used to form part of the school diet.

Given that the meal was cheap to produce and featured plenty of iron, it's no surprise that schools were quick to favour this dish. However, due to the meal being prepared in batches, it was often unappealing to students, and due to frequent complaints about the meal, schools eventually ditched it.

While not necessarily a major hit in the UK, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became a major hit in the United States. They were first introduced to school canteens during the 1930s as a cheap meal that didn't require refrigeration.

However, while you might find them in a lunchbox, schools now rarely sell the classic sandwich due to issues over severe allergies within the student population.

Of course Spam features in this list! The classic meat, that can still be bought today, was a popular meal during the 1960s and 1980s. Served alongside mashed potatoes and peas, spam fritters would be fried in butter until golden brown.

However, it may not surprise you to learn that spam fritters aren't particularly healthy, and so as schools started focusing on better nutrition, these classics were phased out.

While obviously never a meal, Violet No. 1 Dye was regularly used in the 1970s to add a little bit of extra colour to desserts like ice cream or jellies. However, when Japanese scientists discovered that the dye was linked to cancer in rats, it was swiftly removed from the canteen.

One of the go-to desserts in the 1970s was chocolate concrete, which earned its nickname as it was supposedly as tough as concrete. The classic pudding would be smashed into pieces and served alongside pink custard and proved to be a favourite.

The ingredients were simple, consisting of flour, sugar, cocoa powder and melted butter, but it was unable to fulfil nutritional requirements that were later put in place, leading to its ban.

Salisbury steak earned a reputation among students, with many joking about its 'mystery meat' content. The dish itself, which originated in the United States, would often comprise mostly of ground beef, but would also include chicken and pork.

The meal was highly processed, so as processed foods started being phased out it was one of the first to drop off the menu.

Popular in schools in Kent and south London, the gypsy tart was incredibly popular across schools due to its inexpensive ingredients and its highly sweet taste.

However, like several desserts, gypsy tarts eventually stopped meeting nutritional standards, and so was consigned to the school history books.

Sausage rolls are a British staple, especially ones from Greggs, and while you might still find the occasional one in the cafeteria, they have now heavily been phased out.

Initially made with hydrogenated lard, this staple soon breached standards on fat and salt limits. They remained on the menu for several decades, but are now at risk of entirely being ditched in order to combat childhood obesity.

Even when it was on the menu, tapioca wasn't a popular dessert, with many students giving it the nickname 'frogspawn' due to its appearance. Even the blob of jam wasn't enough to keep pupils satisfied. Not many mourned when it stopped meeting nutritional guidelines.

While suet might not have been loved, the jam roly-poly was incredibly popular, with the dessert being introduced to canteens all the way back in the 1940s. However, like many desserts of its time, sugar guidelines led to the beloved creation being taken off the menu.

Sometimes a useful meal for vegetarian students, although some variations of the dish do include meat, a simple cheese flan would often be a hit when the lunchtime bell rang.

While schools haven't outright banned the humble flan, it has certainly fallen out of favour, with many now opting to serve quiche in its place.

One of the most popular desserts to have ever been ladled into a school bowl is the Blancmange, a pudding that comprised of milk or cream thickened with flour and gelatin, and a popular meal to be covered with the beloved pink custard.

As school desserts became healthier amid fears that too much sugar could lead to 'sugar crashes' towards the end of the school day, this sugary treat was ditched.

Another regional pudding, the Manchester tart was a popular school dessert that was made with shortcrust pastry, jam and topped with desiccated coconut. How luxurious!

While schools eventually started moving away from serving the tart due to the amount of time that it took to actually prepare the dessert, it was eventually banned due to the amount of sugar inside.