New Nutrition Guidelines Put Less Sugar and Salt on the Menu for School Meals

“School meals will soon contain less salt and sugar, but can still include chocolate milk, under new nutrition guidelines released by the Biden administration. “All of this is designed to ensure that students have quality meals and that we meet parents’ expectation that their children are receiving healthy and nutritious meals at school,” Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said in a call with reporters on Tuesday.

Under the rule, schools will need to limit the amount of added sugars in cereals and yogurts beginning in the 2025-26 academic year and gradually step up reductions in other foods. Added sugars currently provide about 17 percent of calories in school breakfasts and 11 percent in school lunches on average, according to a May 2022 government report. Federal dietary guidelines recommend that no more than 10 percent of daily calories come from added sugars.

The Sugar Association, a trade group, said it supported limiting added sugars in a weekly menu but called applying limits to individual products like flavored dairy products “arbitrary.” The group also warned that the new standards might lead to increased use of artificial sweeteners, which is not addressed but could have its own health ramifications.”

Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/us/politics/school-meals-nutrition.html