School lunches may change from next year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday announced updated nutrition standards for school meals, which will be updated in stages from fall 2025 to fall 2027, including “reducing sugar and increasing flexibility in menu planning.”
“The new standards build on the great strides school lunches have made and address remaining challenges, such as reducing sugar in school breakfasts,” said Cindy, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator.・Mr. Long said in a news release.
“These updates will make it easier for schools to access locally sourced products, benefiting both schools and the local economy,” Long concluded.
There is no longer a lunch menu:Consumer Reports tells USDA that school lunches should not be on school menus due to lead and sodium content
What changes in the latest USDA guidelines?
For the first time, added sugar will be restricted in school lunches nationwide, with minor changes expected to be implemented by fall 2025 and fully implemented by fall 2027, according to the USDA.
The agency said research shows these added sugars are most commonly found on typical school breakfast menus. By fall 2025, child care providers will begin restricting added sugar (different from total sugar) in cereals and yogurt.
Additionally, new limits will be placed on the amount of added sugar in flavored milk served at school breakfasts and lunches by next fall, and schools will be required to “slightly reduce” sodium content in meals by fall 2027. There is.
School lunches should not be on school menus, Consumer Reports tells USDA
The latest guidelines from the USDA come a few weeks after Consumer Reports told the agency that Lunchables contain alarmingly high levels of lead and sodium and should not be on school lunch menus. It was announced later.
“We don’t think anyone should be eating these products on a regular basis, and they shouldn’t be considered healthy school lunches,” Consumer Reports chemist Eric Bowling, who led the test, said in a statement. Stated.
The organization said it tested 12 commercially available Lunchable products from Kraft Heinz and compared them to similar lunch and snack kits from other manufacturers.
Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said that while none of the kits exceeded legal or regulatory limits, testing showed that the Lunchables kits contained “relatively high levels of lead.” , cadmium, and sodium were detected.
Cadmium, which is classified as a human carcinogen, has been linked to cancer as well as kidney and bone diseases, according to the World Health Organization. However, cadmium is a naturally occurring element found in soil, so it cannot be completely avoided.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no safe level of lead for children to ingest.
“There’s a lot to be concerned about with these kits,” Amy Keating, a registered dietitian at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. “They are highly processed, and regularly eating processed meat, which is the main ingredient in many of these products, is associated with an increased risk of some cancers.”
Contributor: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY
Gabe Hauari is USA TODAY’s national trends news reporter. You can follow him at X @gabehauari Or email Gdhauari@gannett.com.
