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USDA has announced new nutrition standards for school meals.
What are the current requirements for milk in school meals?
Schools may currently offer fat-free and low-fat (1 percent fat) milk, flavored and unflavored, in reimbursable school lunches and breakfasts and for sale as a competitive beverage. Unflavored milk must be offered at each school meal service.
Fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, may also be offered to participants ages 6 and older in the Special Milk Program (SMP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
What are the changes in the final rule for milk in school meals?
USDA decided to maintain the current requirement for milk in school meals. All schools continue to have the option to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, to K-12 students, and to sell fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, à la carte. Consistent with current requirements, unflavored milk must be offered at each school lunch and breakfast meal service. SMP and CACFP operators may continue to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, to participants ages 6 and older.
Flavored milk offered to K-12 students in school lunch and breakfast and sold to students à la carte during the school day must comply with the product-based added sugars limit in this rule, to be implemented by school year 2025-26 (beginning July 1, 2025). Flavored milk must contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces, or for flavored milk sold à la carte in middle and high schools, 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces.
Listen to the This Land Of Ours program with comments from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack here.