Earlier this year Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new proposal for updating nutrition requirements for school meals served in federal feeding programs. Acknowledging the nutrition contributions of dairy foods, the proposal maintains fluid milk and dairy products as important components of all school breakfasts and lunches, but some new mandates could affect the types of dairy products available.
All schools are expected to implement the changes to federally funded meals beginning with the 2012-2013 school year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 30 million students, or about half the student population, eat school lunches every day, and 10 million eat school breakfasts daily.
Consistent with IDFA's position and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, USDA will continue to require a variety of fluid milk to be served with every lunch and breakfast, including both low-fat or free-fat. But the choices of flavored milk would be limited, only allowing fat-free varieties.
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