WASHINGTON, April 24, 2024 – Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced important steps to improve the health of America’s children through school meals.
Nutritional standards for school meals will be updated in stages from fall 2025 to fall 2027, including sugar reduction and menu planning flexibility. The Department arrived at these changes after carefully listening to the public and considering the latest science-based recommendations in the School Lunch Guidelines. American.
The new rules continue the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address both food and nutrition security.
K-12 schools serve nutritious breakfasts and lunches to nearly 30 million children every day. These meals are the main source of nutrition for more than half of these children and help promote their health.
“We all share the goal of helping children reach their full potential,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Like teachers, classrooms, books, and computers, nutritious school meals are an essential part of the school environment, and by raising standards for school meals, children will be more successful in and out of the classroom. With this major milestone in mind, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to work with schools, districts, states, and industry to build on the extraordinary progress made to strengthen school meals.”
The final rule previewed today builds on the administration’s national commitment to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030, set out at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. This is an important step in moving the strategy forward.
“The new standards build on the great progress school meals have made to date and address remaining challenges, such as reducing sugar in school breakfasts. This increases access to locally grown products, which benefits both schools and local economies,” said Cindy Long, USDA Food and Nutrition Services Administrator.
Key updates to nutrition standards to support healthy children include:
add sugar
• For the first time, added sugar will be restricted in school meals across the country, with minor changes to be made by autumn 2025 and fully implemented by autumn 2027. The Department of Agriculture has heard concerns from parents and teachers that excessive amounts of sugar are added to some foods. This new restriction. Research shows that these added sugars are most commonly found on typical school breakfast menus. Child care providers also plan to start limiting the amount of added sugar in cereals and yogurts, rather than the total amount of sugar, by fall 2025.
milk
• Schools can continue to offer flavored and unflavored milk that provides essential nutrients that children need, such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium. By fall 2025, there will be new limits on added sugars in flavored milk served at breakfast and lunch. Thirty-seven school milk processing companies, which account for more than 90 percent of the nation’s school milk volume, are already committed to providing nutritious school milk options. Meeting this limit for added sugars.
sodium
• Schools will be required to slightly reduce the sodium content of their meals by fall 2027. In response to public comment, the USDA is only requiring one salt reduction, rather than his three-stage salt reduction proposed last year. This change still points children in the right direction and gives schools and industry the lead time they need to prepare. The sodium limits in this final rule will be familiar to schools, as they were supported by key school nutrition stakeholders and industry stakeholders during previous rulemaking activities in 2017 and 2018.
whole grain
• Current nutritional standards for whole grains remain unchanged. Schools will continue to offer students a variety of nutritious whole grains, but they also have the option to offer several nutritious grains to suit students’ cultural and taste preferences.
Support other food preferences
• Although not a new requirement, starting in fall 2024, schools will have an easier time offering protein-rich breakfast foods such as yogurt, tofu, eggs, nuts, and seeds. This can reduce sugary food options and also support a vegetarian diet. and other food preferences.
Supporting the purchase of local ingredients
• Also, starting in fall 2024, schools will have the option to require raw produce to be locally grown, raised, or harvested when purchasing school lunch programs, making it easier for schools to buy local food.
In addition, beginning in fall 2025, limits will be placed on the percentage of non-domestically grown and produced foods that schools can purchase, and U.S. farmers, producers, fishermen and ranchers will be required to provide nutritious food to schools. The role of the Lord will be strengthened.
Those that do not change
School lunches will continue to emphasize fruits and vegetables. Whole grains. It provides children with the right balance of many nutrients for a healthy and delicious diet. School nutrition specialists are local experts in the region who continue to provide students with the meals they want to eat, while prioritizing cultural and religious food preferences.
Nutritious school lunches are invaluable to everyday families
• “I feel so relieved knowing that my grandchildren get free breakfast and lunch at school,” said Moms Rising member Mary Beth Cochran, a disabled homemaker who is raising four grandchildren in Canton, North Carolina. I did. “Honestly, I don’t know what we would do without school lunches. I take great comfort in knowing that my children will eat two balanced meals five days a week at school, no matter what. So, as a grandmother, I’m excited that the Department of Agriculture is taking action to raise nutritional standards for school meals. I am proud to support this rule because I know it will make a huge difference to the health and well-being of families like mine. I think so.”
School districts are empowered to meet the latest standards.
Today’s announcement comes just weeks after the Spring 2024 Healthy Eating Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. The summit brought together hundreds of school nutrition experts to celebrate and share innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. As part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentive Initiative, 264 small and rural school districts each received up to $150,000 to provide resources to improve food service operations and meet the latest nutrition standards.
The initiative also supports innovation in the school food market by strengthening collaboration with schools, food producers and suppliers, and other partners through the School Food System Transformation Challenge Grant.
The food industry responds to the call to produce nutritious school meals
• “Ahead of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, my company, JTM Food Group, began reformulating K12 products to reduce sodium. During COVID-19, we We continued our research and development efforts, particularly reviewing cheese and product formulations, to further reduce sodium as we look at dietary patterns,” said Carol Erb, Executive Director of Education and Government Sales at JTM. “Members of the JTM team have worked together to bring to market reduced-sodium products that meet today’s new dietary patterns. We are ready to continue supporting the important work of feeding children and nourishing our nation.”
• “As a mother and a member of the industry, I think it’s important to reduce sugar in school meals. To support schools, we’re providing sample menus that show how our products meet the latest standards. We also use high-quality natural ingredients to reduce added sugar, making our baked goods healthier and delicious,” said Laura Trujillo Bruno, RDN, SNS, President of Buena Vista Foods. states.
Further support from school nutrition experts
• “The Nutrition Standard provides a framework for us to build on and helps us know that the meals we serve are nutritious for our students. Ensuring access to healthy meals helps build equity and a healthy portfolio, and in fact, school cafeterias are the healthiest places for Americans to eat. We get it,” said Anneliese Tanner, executive director of food and nutrition for Boston Public Schools. “Boston Public Schools is already moving in this direction, adding similar sugar restrictions and reducing salt from menus, and has been doing so for years. “Other companies have a long way to go in this direction.”
Additional background on school nutrition standards
By law, USDA is required to set standards for food and beverages served through school lunch programs that align with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each school develops meals that fit within these standards and reflect the tastes and preferences of the students they serve.
The Department proposed updates to the standards in February 2023 and received significant feedback during a 90-day public comment period, totaling more than 136,000 public comments. These comments were considered in the development of the final nutritional standard. Leading up to the proposed standard, USDA held more than 50 hearing sessions with state agencies, school districts, advocacy groups, tribal officials, professional associations, food manufacturers, and other federal agencies.
The Biden-Harris Administration and the Department of Agriculture are focused on supporting school nutrition programs. As schools recover from the pandemic, the department is giving them more purchasing power to buy America’s food, as well as equipment updates, product innovations, staff training, and farm-to-school initiatives that meet the needs of local school districts. provided schools with the opportunity to enhance their grant programs.
