USDA proposes new limits on salt and sugar in school meals 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), on Friday, January 3, proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, which include specified limits on added sugar and sodium in meals given to children across the country.

Announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the new standards are part of a major initiative that the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to take to support and enhance children's health in American schools through nutritious school meals.

The initiative focuses on making school meals more nutritious for growing children while decreasing the number of on-rise diet-related diseases among children across the United States. The proposed limits will not only help children eat better but will also help them focus better on their studies and participate in much-needed extra-curricular activities throughout the school year.

The USDA is responsible for setting standards for food and beverages served in school meal programs. At the same time, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) ensures that the National School Lunch Program adheres to those guidelines.

Once implemented, the new standards will help limit all added sugar in high-sugar products like cereals, yogurt, flavored milk, and breakfast pastries by 2029. It would also allow flavored milk to be included with the meals in certain circumstances while reducing weekly sodium limits and emphasizing products rich in whole grains.

The USDA proposed the new standards through a virtual roundtable conference with Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, quoting:

“Our commitment to the school meal programs comes from a common goal we all share – keeping kids healthy and helping them reach their full potential.”

Emphasizing the importance of nutritious school meals, the Agricultural Secretary, USDA, added:

“Many children aren’t getting the nutrition they need, and diet-related diseases are on the rise. Research shows school meals are the healthiest meals in a day for most kids, proving that they are an important tool for giving kids access to the nutrition they need for a bright future.”

Sharing the USDA's goals for supporting child health through nutritious school meals, he further stated:

“We must all step up to support child health if we are to achieve the Biden-Harris Administration's goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases by 2030, in accordance with the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Strengthening school meals is one of the best ways we can achieve that goal.”

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What steps is the USDA taking to ensure nutritious school meals for children

Nutrition experts and doctors have always advised parents to cut back on sugar and salt as it can significantly decrease the risk of multiple diseases in kids, including - obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other problems that often catch up to adulthood.

With school meals being an important part of nutrition for children, cutting back on the sugar and sodium levels in these meals is equally important. By newly proposed standards, the USDA not only plans to reduce the amount of sugar and sodium in school meals but also wants to make the meals more nutritious by giving preference to foods rich in whole grains.

A staff member serves school meals to children on a tray (Image via SDI Productions/Getty Images)

The science-based nutrition standards proposed by the USDA and FNS will help greatly improve the nutritional quality of school meals in urban and rural school districts while offering children healthy meals that keep them energized for the day.

To support nutritious meals for children across the country, the FNS proposed a few important updates to the existing nutrition standards, which include:

• Limiting added sugars in certain high-sugar products and, later, across the weekly menu.
• Allowing flavored milk in certain circumstances and with reasonable limits on added sugars.
• Incrementally reducing weekly sodium limits over many school years.
• Emphasizing products that are primarily whole grain, with the option for occasional non-whole grain products.

Parents, teachers, nutritionists, health professionals, and many other able individuals have played their part by sharing their concerns and ideas with FNS about the amount of added sugar and sodium in school breakfast.

With the newly proposed nutrition standards, FNS and USDA hope that all food industry partners can work together to implement the required changes and help improve the nutritional quality of the food provided in school meals to children across the country.