Chocolate Milk Stays on the Tray

USDA recently announced new school meal standards for child nutrition programs. The final rule seeks to align child nutrition meal patterns with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The announcement reinforces the importance of federal nutrition assistance programs, and milk and dairy foods, in supporting children’s health.

Key takeaways:

• Flavored milk: The final rule continues to allow low-fat and fat-free flavored milk at all grade levels.
• Added sugars: As anticipated, USDA added new limits on added sugars:
  • By the 2027-2028 school year, added sugars can make up no more than 10% of calories per week in the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast Programs
  • As proposed, there will be product limitations on added sugars in flavored milk and yogurt. Processors have already committed to providing options that meet this limit on added sugars.
• Lactose-free milk: The rule re-emphasizes lactose-free milk as an equitable option that promotes childhood health through school meal programs.

Currently, most Ohio and West Virginia school milk providers already meet or exceed the new standards for flavored milks. ADA Mideast and the National Dairy Council will continue to explore school recipe reformulation to maximize the opportunities to serve flavored milks and yogurt in the future.

Through the National Dairy Council, your dairy checkoff program participated in the public process that USDA led from proposed rule to final rule and will continue to engage in education and outreach to share the science-based benefits of culturally appropriate dairy foods as part of healthy school meal programs.