The U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising current nutrition standards for school meals to include less sugar and allow more flexibility in menu planning. The changes will take place between Fall 2025 and Fall 2027.
“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 when we raise the bar for school meals, we enable our children to achieve greater success inside and outside the classroom. Expanding on this important milestone, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to strengthening school meals “We will continue to partner with schools, districts, states and industry to build on the outstanding progress made for
The final rule, previewed on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, is an important step toward advancing the Administration’s national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030, laid out at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. .
The Department reached these changes after listening closely to public feedback and considering the latest science-based recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. K-12 schools serve nutritious breakfasts and lunches to approximately 30 million children each school day. These meals are the main source of nutrition for more than half of these children and help improve child health.
“The new standards build on the great progress already made in school meals and address remaining challenges, including reducing sugar in school breakfasts. These updates also make it easier for schools to access locally sourced products, benefiting both schools and the local economy,” USDA said. s Food and Nutrition Service Manager Cindy Long.
Important updates to nutrition standards to support healthy children include:
Added Sugars
- For the first time, added sugars will be restricted in school meals nationwide; Minor changes will be made in Fall 2025 and full implementation will begin in Fall 2027. The USDA has heard concerns from parents and teachers about excessive amounts of added sugar in some foods, and this has taken this into account. new frontier. Research shows that these added sugars are most commonly found in typical school breakfast items. Childcare operators will also begin limiting added sugar rather than total sugar in cereals and yoghurts from Autumn 2025.
Milk
- Schools can continue to offer flavored and unflavored milk, which provides essential nutrients children need, such as calcium, vitamin D and potassium. A new limit will be placed on added sugars in flavored milks served at breakfast and lunch by Autumn 2025. Thirty-seven school milk processors, representing more than 90% of school milk volume nationwide, currently meet this limit on added sugars.
Sodium
- Schools will be required to slightly reduce the sodium content of their meals by Fall 2027. In response to public comments, USDA is requesting only one sodium reduction rather than the three-phase reduction proposed last year. This change is still pointing our children in the right direction and providing the lead time they need to prepare for schools and industry. The sodium limits in this final rule will be familiar to schools, as they were supported by leading school nutrition and industry stakeholders during previous rulemaking activities in 2017 and 2018.
Whole Grains
- Current nutritional standards for whole grains will not change. Schools will continue to offer students a variety of nutrient-rich whole grains and will have the option of offering some fortified grains to meet students’ cultural and taste preferences.
Supporting Other Food Preferences
- Although not a new requirement, starting in Fall 2024, it will be easier for schools to offer protein-rich breakfast foods such as yogurt, tofu, eggs, nuts and seeds. other food preferences.
Supporting Local Food Purchases
- Additionally, starting in Fall 2024, schools will have the option to request that unprocessed agricultural products be grown, raised or caught locally when purchasing for school meal programs, making it easier for schools to purchase local foods.
- Additionally, starting in Fall 2025, schools will be limited to the percentage of non-domestic grown and produced foods they can purchase, increasing the role of American farmers, producers, fishermen, and farmers in providing nutritious foods to schools.
What Stays the Same?
Fruits and vegetables will continue to be emphasized in school meals; whole grains; and give kids the right balance of many nutrients for healthy, delicious meals. School nutritionists are local experts in their communities and will prioritize cultural and religious food preferences while continuing to serve the meals their students want to eat.
Nutritious School Meals Are a Great Value for Ordinary Families
- “The free breakfast lunches my grandchildren eat at school are a huge relief,” said MomsRising member Mary Beth Cochran, a disabled housewife raising four grandchildren in Canton, North Carolina. “I honestly don’t know what we would do without school meals. It gives me such peace of mind knowing that kids will get two balanced meals at school, no matter what, five days a week. That’s why I’m excited that USDA is taking action to raise nutritional standards in school meals. As a grandmother, I will move mountains to make sure my grandchildren get the healthy food they need to learn and grow. “I’m proud to support this rule because I know it will make a real difference to the health and well-being of families like mine.”
School Districts Able to Meet Updated Standards
The announcement came at St. Louis, where hundreds of school nutritionists gathered to celebrate and share their innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. It comes a few weeks after the Spring 2024 Healthy Meals Summit in St. Louis, Mo. As part of USDA’s Healthy Eating Promotion Initiative, 264 small and rural school districts each received up to $150,000 to equip them with resources to improve food service operations and help them meet these updated nutrition standards.
The initiative also supports innovation in the school food market by increasing collaboration between schools, food manufacturers and suppliers, and other partners through School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants.
Food Industry Answers the Call to Produce Nutritious School Foods
- “Prior to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, my company, JTM food group, began reformulating our K 12 product offerings to reduce sodium. “During COVID, we continued our R&D efforts to review formulations, particularly in our cheeses and products, to further reduce sodium in anticipation of the new eating pattern,” said Carole Erb, JTM Executive Director of Education and Government Sales. “JTM team members collaborated to bring reduced sodium products to market that will meet today’s new dining model. “We stand ready to continue supporting all food service managers across the country and the important work they and their employees do to feed America’s children and feed the nation.”
- “As a mother and an industry member, I think it is important to reduce sugar in school meals. To help schools, we have created a sample menu showing how our products comply with the updated standards. We have also reduced added sugar by using high-quality natural ingredients that ensure our baked goods are healthy and delicious,” said Laura Trujillo Bruno, SNS RDN, President of Buena Vista Foods.
More Support from a School Nutritionist
- “Nutrition standards give us a framework upon which to build and help us know that the meals we serve are nutritious for our students. The standards help us build equity and a healthy portfolio by ensuring all children receive healthy meals at school. “We actually know that school cafeterias are the healthiest places where Americans eat,” said Anneliese Tanner, Executive Director of Food and Nutrition for Boston Public Schools. “We are already moving in this direction at Boston Public Schools, enforcing the same added sugar limits and reducing sodium on our menus, and have been doing so for many years. Therefore, it is entirely possible to comply with the new regulations. “There is a long implementation runway for others to move in this direction.”
Additional Information on School Nutrition Standards
USDA is required by law to establish standards for foods and beverages served through school meal programs that are consistent with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each school develops meals that meet these standards and reflect the tastes and preferences of the students it serves.
The Department proposed updates to the standards in February 2023 and received tremendous feedback during the 90-day public comment period, resulting in a total of more than 136,000 public comments. These comments were taken into account in the development of the finalized nutritional standards. To lead the proposed standards, USDA held more than 50 listening sessions with state agencies, school districts, advocacy organizations, tribal stakeholders, professional associations, food manufacturers and other federal agencies.
The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are committed to supporting school nutrition programs. As schools recover from the pandemic, the Department has provided them with greater purchasing power to purchase American groceries and opportunities for enhanced grant programs for equipment upgrades, product innovation, staff training, and farm-to-school efforts that serve the needs of local school districts.
To learn about more ways USDA is investing in school meal programs, see the Support for Schools webpage.
