USDA To Change Schools Lunch, Limited Added Sugars & Reduced Sodium

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a series of changes to nutrition standards for school meals, including one that is a historic first. Here are three things to know about the changes coming to breakfast and lunch meals served at school.

1 – Added sugars will now be limited in meals

The biggest change announced by the USDA is that, for the first time, there will be limits on added sugars in school meals. Currently, schools only have to meet weekly calorie limits, regardless of the added sugars in the foods they serve, according to the USDA. With this new change, beginning on July 1, 2025, breakfast cereals served at schools will be limited to no more than 6 grams of added sugars per dry ounce; yogurt may have no more than 2 grams of added sugars per ounce; and flavored milk may have no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces.

2- Sodium is being gradually reduced in school meals

Beginning on July 1, 2027, school lunches will see a 15% reduction from current limits, while sodium in breakfast meals will see a 10% reduction, according to the USDA. The USDA said it is allowing current sodium standards to remain for the next three years to give schools, manufacturers, and the general public time to adapt. Eating too much sodium, the majority of which comes from processed foods, can “increase your blood pressure and your risk for heart disease and stroke,” according to the CDC.

3- The USDA said it will allow schools to continue to sell fat-free and low-fat and flavored and unflavored milk to students. Beginning on July 1, 2025, however, flavored milk sold at schools will have to meet the new added sugars limits. Flavored milk offered to K-12 students in school breakfast and lunch must contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces, according to the USDA, while flavored milk sold a la carte in middle and high schools must have no more than 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces. The nearly 30 million kids who eat meals at schools each day in the United States will soon see some changes to the food they are served.

Source: ABC News