Updated nutrition standards for school meals include the first-ever limit on added sugars in foods and beverages, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, calling it “an important step forward in improving nutrition for our youngsters.” The regulations, which also call for less sodium in meals, were released on Wednesday.
They allow schools to continue to offer flavored milk although with limits on added sugars. The USDA said milk processors providing 90 percent of school milk have committed to meeting the new limits. “They really stepped up to the challenge,” said Vilsack during a teleconference on Tuesday.
The new regulations will take effect over a number of years. “It takes time to transition, phase in aspects of the new rules,” said Vilsack. The USDA said it was trying to bring school meals into line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation to limit calories from added sugars to less than 10 percent of daily calories. Limits on added sugars would begin in small steps in Fall 2025 and take full effect in the Fall 2027.
Added sugars are sweeteners put into foods during preparation or processing, or added at the table. The American Heart Association says added sugars can result in unwanted weight gain or even obesity. “That can reduce heart health,” it said.
Schools would be required to “slightly reduce” sodium in their meals by Fall 2027, said the USDA. The one-step reduction would be 10 percent for breakfasts and 15 percent for lunches, said Cindy Long, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service. In February 2023, the USDA proposed multi-step sodium reductions totaling 20 percent for school breakfast and 30 percent for school breakfast but Congress passed language specifying the sodium target.
There will be no change in the requirement that at least 80 percent of grains offered each week be whole-grain-rich, said the USDA. It raised the possibility of a nearly 100 percent standard last year.
The 2010 child nutrition law called for more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less salt and fat in school meals. A group speaking for school food directors, the School Nutrition Association, was wary of higher costs when USDA proposed the make-over of school meals last year. Students might reject school meals if recipes change too much, it said.
About 29.5 million students eat hot meals each day through the school lunch program. The school breakfast program serves 15.2 million pupils daily. Child nutrition programs are forecast to cost $33.3 billion this fiscal year.