New School Meal Standards Proposed

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is proposing updates to the school nutrition standards. The proposed updates reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and are based on input from school nutrition professionals, public health experts, industry, and parents.

The new proposed changes for school meals focus on providing a balance of nutrients, while also allowing time to adapt to the changes. They also aim to reduce added sugar and sodium, and include more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. 

Feedback on the proposed standards is being accepted from February 7, 2023 through April 10, 2023.  

Highlights from the proposed updates are as follows:

Added Sugars

Currently, there is no added sugars limit in the school meal programs. Under the current regulations, schools may choose to serve some menu items and meals that are high in added sugars, provided they meet weekly calorie limits.

Beginning in school year (SY) 2025-2026, this rule proposes to implement limits for leading sources of added sugars in school meals, including grain-based desserts, breakfast cereals, yogurts, and flavored milks.

• Grain-based desserts, which include cereal bars, doughnuts, sweet rolls, toaster pastries, coffee cakes, and fruit turnovers, would be limited to no more than 2 ounce equivalents per week in school breakfast, consistent with the current limit for school lunch.
• Breakfast cereals would be limited to no more than 6 grams of added sugars per dry ounce.
• Yogurts would be limited to no more than 12 grams of added sugars per 6 ounces.
• Flavored milks would be limited to no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces or, for flavored milk sold as a competitive food for middle and high schools, 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces.

Beginning in SY 2027-2028, this rule also proposes to implement a dietary specification limiting school breakfasts and lunches to an average of less than 10% of calories per meal from added sugars.

Milk

Current program regulations allow schools to offer fat-free and low-fat (1% fat) milk, flavored and unflavored, in reimbursable school lunches and breakfasts and for sale as a competitive beverage.

This rule proposes two alternatives for the milk standard:

• Alternative A: Proposes to allow flavored milk (fat-free and low-fat) at school lunch and breakfast for high school children (grades 9-12) only. Under this alternative, elementary and middle school children (grades K-8) would be limited to a variety of unflavored milk.
• Alternative B: Proposes to maintain the current standard allowing all schools to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, at school lunch and breakfast, with the new proposed added sugars limit for flavored milk.

Whole Grains

Current program regulations require at least 80% of the weekly grains offered in the school lunch and breakfast programs to be whole grain-rich. To meet USDA's whole grain-rich criteria, a product must contain at least 50% whole grains; any grain ingredients that are not whole grain must be enriched, bran, or germ.

For the whole grains requirement in the school lunch and breakfast programs, USDA is considering two different options. This rule:

• Proposes to maintain the current requirement that at least 80% of the weekly grains offered are whole grain-rich, based on ounce equivalents of grains served in the school lunch and breakfast programs. 
• Requests public input on an alternative option which would require that all grains offered in the school lunch and breakfast programs must meet the whole grain-rich requirement, except that one day each school week, schools may offer enriched grains. For most school weeks, this would result in four days of whole grain-rich grains, with enriched grains allowed on one day.

Sodium

Current regulations require schools to meet Sodium Target 1 for school lunch and breakfast, effective SY 2022-2023. For school lunch only, schools are required to meet Sodium Target 1A beginning in SY 2023-2024. These standards are shown in the tables below:

National School Lunch Program Transitional Sodium Limits:

School Breakfast Program Transitional Sodium Limits:

The sodium limits apply to the average lunch and breakfast offered during the school week; they do not apply per day, per meal, or per menu item. This means that specific products are not held to specific sodium limits, but rather, meals must fit into the overall weekly limit. Menu planners may occasionally offer meals, menu items, or products with higher sodium content if they are balanced out with meals, menu items, or products with lower sodium content throughout the school week.

USDA proposes to establish weekly sodium limits, informed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s voluntary sodium reduction goals, with further reductions to support closer alignment with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For school lunch, this proposed rule would set forth three reductions, to be phased in as follows and as shown in the chart below:

• SY 2025-2026: Schools would implement a 10% reduction from SY 2024-2025 school lunch sodium limits.
• SY 2027-2028: Schools would implement a 10% reduction from SY 2026-2027 school lunch sodium limits.
• SY 2029-2030: Schools would implement a 10% reduction from SY 2028-2029 school lunch sodium limits.

Proposed National School Lunch Program Sodium Limits: