February 3, 2023
The Agriculture Department on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals that would impose the first limit on added sugar in lunches and breakfasts served by school cafeterias…
To make Friday’s proposed rules more effective, nutrition experts urged USDA to enforce them immediately…Others argued the proposal was too strict…
The Sugar Association, a trade organization, also took issue with the proposed rules, arguing that limiting sugar in foods such as cereal and yogurt will result in other deficiencies.
“These product limits not only ignore the many functional roles that sugar plays in food beyond sweetness but will also lead to reduced consumption of important nutrients,” the association’s president and CEO Courtney Gaine said in a statement. “It also encourages the use of sugar substitutes, which are not addressed in USDA’s proposed rule, and their health effects on children are not adequately studied.”
Read the full article here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/less-sugar-less-salt-usda-proposes-nutrition-changes-school-meals-rcna68973
April 7, 2026
“In specific guidelines for certain age groups and subpopulations, the new DGA advise to “avoid added sugars during infancy and early childhood” (birth to 4 years) and say “no amount of added sugars is recommended” up to age 11. The DGA provide no evidence to support such extreme recommendations. In fact, the author of the […]
March 22, 2026
"The Feeding the Economy report affirms the vital role food and agriculture play in our nation’s economic resilience and food security. Commercial bakers have long been proud partners to American agriculture, sourcing 85 percent of their core ingredients from domestic farmers....Sponsoring organizations from the food and agriculture industries, who helped make the 2026 study possible, provided commentary on this year’s findings. The full list of sponsoring organizations includes: ...The Sugar Association"
March 10, 2026
"Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, a scientific body that supports the U.S. sugar industry, told the USDA Outlook Forum that the school meal standards taking effect next year might prohibit added sugars in kindergarten meals and could significantly restrict them in other grades. That change alone would cut sugar demand by over 130,000 short tons. The industry faces additional pressure from rising GLP-1 weight-loss drug usage, which jumped from 12% in May 2024 to 18% in November 2025, though Gaine cautioned it remains "premature to assess the impact."
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