Gradual implementation of nutrition updates, to include less sugar, set to begin in Fall 2025

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2024 – Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced major steps to promote the health of America’s children through school meals. Nutrition standards for school meals will be gradually updated to include less sugar and flexibility with menu planning between Fall 2025 and Fall 2027. The Department arrived at these changes after listening closely to public feedback and considering the latest science-based recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The new rule continues the work of the Biden-Harris Administration to address both food and nutrition security.

K-12 schools serve nutritious breakfasts and lunches to nearly 30 million children every school day. These meals are the main source of nutrition for more than half of these children and help improve child health.

“We all share the goal of helping children reach their full potential,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Like teachers, classrooms, books, and computers, nutritious school meals are an essential part of the school environment, and when we raise the bar for school meals, it empowers our kids to achieve greater success inside and outside of the classroom. Expanding on this major milestone, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to partner with schools, districts, states and industry to build on the extraordinary progress made to strengthen school meals.”

The final rule previewed today, is a significant step toward advancing the Administration’s national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030 set forth at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September 2022.

“The new standards build on the great progress that school meals have made already and address remaining challenges - including reducing sugar in school breakfasts. These updates also make it easier for schools to access locally sourced products, benefiting both schools and the local economy,” said USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long.

Key updates to the nutrition standards to support healthy kids include:

Added Sugars

• For the first time, added sugars will be limited in school meals nationwide, with small changes happening by Fall 2025 and full implementation by Fall 2027. USDA heard concerns from parents and teachers about excessive amounts of added sugars in some foods, which factored into this new limit. Research shows that these added sugars are most commonly found in typical school breakfast items. Child care operators will also begin limiting added sugars in cereals and yogurts – rather than total sugars – by Fall 2025.

Milk

• Schools can continue to offer flavored and unflavored milk, which provide essential nutrients that children need, such as calcium, vitamin D and potassium. There will be a new limit on added sugars in flavored milk served at breakfast and lunch by Fall 2025. Thirty-seven school milk processors – representing more than 90% of the school milk volume nationwide – have already committed to providing nutritious school milk options that meet this limit on added sugars.

Sodium

• Schools will need to slightly reduce sodium content in their meals by Fall 2027. In response to public comments, USDA is only requiring one sodium reduction, and not the three incremental reductions that were proposed last year. This change still moves our children in the right direction and gives schools and industry the lead time they need to prepare. The sodium limits in this final rule will be familiar to schools, as they were supported by leading school nutrition and industry stakeholders during previous rulemaking activities in 2017 and 2018.

Whole Grains

• Current nutrition standards for whole grains will not change. Schools will continue to offer students a variety of nutrient-rich whole grains and have the option to offer some enriched grains to meet students’ cultural and taste preferences.

Supporting Other Food Preferences

• While not a new requirement, starting in Fall 2024 it will be easier for schools to serve protein-rich breakfast foods such as yogurt, tofu, eggs, nuts, and seeds, which can help reduce sugary food options, while also supporting vegetarian diets and other food preferences.

Supporting Local Food Purchases

• Also starting in Fall 2024, schools have the option to require unprocessed agricultural products to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for school meal programs, making it easier for schools to buy local foods.

Additionally, starting in Fall 2025, schools will have limits on the percentage of non-domestic grown and produced foods they can purchase, which will enhance the role of American farmers, producers, fishers, and ranchers in providing nutritious foods to schools.

For more information about how school meals will be strengthened, see these resources:

• Infographic – Overview of Key Updates to School Nutrition Standards
• Infographic – Implementation Timeline for Key Updates to School Nutrition Standards

What’s Staying the Same

School meals will continue to emphasize fruits and vegetables; whole grains; and give kids the right balance of many nutrients for healthy, tasty meals. School nutrition professionals are local experts in their communities and will continue serving meals that their students want to eat, while also prioritizing cultural and religious food preferences.

Nutritious School Meals Are Invaluable to Everyday Families

• "Free breakfast lunches that my grandkids eat at school are huge relief,” said MomsRising member Mary Beth Cochran, a disabled homemaker raising four grandkids in Canton, North Carolina. “Honestly, I don't know what we would do without school meals. It gives me so much peace of mind to know that no matter what the kids will eat two balanced meals five days a week at school. So, I'm thrilled the USDA is taking action to raise nutrition standards for school meals. As a grandmother I'll move mountains to make sure my grandkids get the healthy food they need to learn and grow. I'm proud to support this rule because I know it will make a real difference for the health and well-being of families like mine."

School Districts Empowered to Meet Updated Standards

Today’s announcement comes a few weeks after the Spring 2024 Heathy Meals Summit in St. Louis, Mo., where hundreds of school nutrition professionals gathered to celebrate and share their innovative efforts to enhance the nutritional quality of school meals. As part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, 264 small and rural school districts each received up to $150,000 to equip them with the resources to improve their meal service operations and help them meet these updated nutrition standards.

Through the School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants, the initiative is also supporting innovation in the school meals market by increasing collaboration between schools, food producers and suppliers, and other partners.

Food Industry is Answering the Call to Produce Nutritious School Foods

• “Prior to the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, my company JTM food group began reformulating our K 12 product offerings to reduce sodium. During COVID, we continued our R&D efforts in reviewing formulations, especially in our cheese and items to further reduce the sodium in anticipation of the new meal pattern,” said Carole Erb, JTM Executive Director of Education and Governmental Sales. “JTM team members have collaborated in bringing to the market reduced sodium products that will meet the new meal pattern today. We are ready to continue supporting all food service directors across the country and the important work that they and their staff are doing, feeding America's children and nourishing the nation.”
• “As a mom and an industry member I think it's important to reduce sugar in school meals. To help schools, we created a sample menu showing how our products fit with the updated standards. We’ve also reduced added sugar by using high quality natural ingredients that ensure our baked goods are healthy and delicious," said Laura Trujillo Bruno, RDN, SNS, President of Buena Vista Foods

More Support from a School Nutrition Professional

• “The nutrition standards give us a framework to build on and help us know that the meals we're serving are nutritious for our students. The standards help us create equity in our food system by ensuring that all kids receive healthy meals at school. And in fact, we know that school cafeterias are the healthiest places that Americans eat,” said Boston Public Schools Executive Director for Food and Nutrition Anneliese Tanner. “In Boston Public Schools we've already been moving in this direction. We have the same added sugar limits in place and reduce sodium in our menus and we have for many years. So, complying with the new regulations is totally doable. There's a long implementation runway for others to move in this direction as well.”

Additional Background on School Nutrition Standards

By law, USDA is required to set standards for the foods and beverages served through the school meal programs that align with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each school develops meals that fit within these standards and reflect tastes and preferences of the students they serve.

The Department proposed updates to the standards in February 2023 and received tremendous feedback during the 90-day public comment period that resulted in more than 136,000 total public comments. These comments were considered in the development of the finalized nutrition standards. Leading up to the proposed standards, USDA held more than 50 listening sessions with state agencies, school districts, advocacy organizations, tribal stakeholders, professional associations, food manufacturers and other federal agencies.

The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are dedicated to supporting the school nutrition programs. While schools bounced back from the pandemic, the Department provided them more purchasing power to buy American foods and opportunities for enhanced grant programs for updating equipment, product innovation, staff training and farm to school efforts that serve the needs of their local school districts.

To learn about more ways USDA is investing in school meal programs, see the Support for Schools webpage.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe and healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean-energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

Additional Resources

• Webpage – Final Updates to the School Nutrition Standards
• Media Toolkit – School Nutrition Standards Media Toolkit
• Comparison Chart – Current and Final School Meal Standards
• Infographic – How We Got Here: School Nutrition Standards Final Rule
• Webpage – Healthy Meals Incentives
   

USDA’s commitment to strengthening the nutrition of school meals comes from a common goal we all share: to help kids lead healthy lives. The strides made in school nutrition over the past decade show that healthier school meals are possible when everyone who plays a part works together.

During their annual food show, Prince William County Schools (PWCS) showed what’s possible when school nutrition professionals, parents, students, school meals partners, and the food industry work together.

The food show, held at Charles J. Colgan High School invites students, teachers, and members of the community to come and try new menu items that PWCS is considering for future breakfast and lunch menus and provide feedback.

Students enrolled in Colgan’s Introduction to Culinary class helped prepare dishes for the show. “I think a lot of people have like this narrative that the food is not good or that it’s unhealthy, I actually think it’s actually the opposite” said one of the culinary students.

The show is a great example of how schools can generate excitement and support for healthy school meals by engaging students and community members in the meal development process.

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that four school districts in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Ohio received awards for their trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for their students. This announcement was made in front of nearly 850 school nutrition professionals at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference during National School Breakfast Week.

These school districts are the first winners of Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards, jointly created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Action for Healthy Kids as part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, also known as HMI. These awards celebrate school districts who embrace opportunities to take their school meals to the next level. HMI is one of several ways that the Biden-Harris Administration is supporting schools to provide kids with nutritious meals that support their health and well-being.

“For many children, school meals are the healthiest, most nutritious meals in their day-to-day lives,” said Secretary Vilsack. “Investing in innovative, high quality school meals that students enjoy is one of many actions the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to improve nutrition for young Americans. At USDA, we are proud to recognize the schools that are going the extra mile in providing nutritious meals for students and helping them reach their fullest potential.”

The four awardees—Clear Lake Community School District in Iowa; Sandy Valley Local School District in Magnolia, Ohio; Petersburg School District in Alaska; and Regional School Unit 89 in Stacyville, Maine—along with 260 other small and/or rural school districts also received HMI grants last summer to enhance the nutritional quality of their school meals.

“Action for Healthy Kids would like to congratulate Clear Lake Community School District, Sandy Valley School District, Petersburg School District, and Regional School Unit 89 on the progress they’ve made in their nutrition programs this year,” said Rob Bisceglie, CEO of Action for Healthy Kids. “We applaud the staff who have worked hard to prepare fresh, appealing and delicious meals for their students.”

Learn About the Awardees

Clear Lake Community School District (Iowa) is recognized as a “Lunch Trailblazer” for reducing sodium in their menu items through creative strategies such as sourcing low- or no-sodium products, increasing the use of fresh local foods, and enhancing flavors with custom spice blends. “We’ve been hosting monthly taste tests for our students, which feature locally grown foods,” said Julie Udelhofen, food service director, Clear Lake Community School District. “These events are a wonderful opportunity to introduce our students to new produce items as well as show our students that their opinions matter to us.”

Sandy Valley Local School District (Ohio) is recognized as a “Lunch Trailblazer” for successfully lowering sodium in school lunches by procuring fresh and/or frozen meat and produce and selecting lower sodium foods for menu items. Their Student Council and Social Justice teams act as an advisory board by evaluating new school menu items and gathering feedback from their peers. The school district also conducts district-wide taste tests to gauge student interest in different scratch cooking options. “We are trying to incorporate more scratch cooking into [our] menus” says Tina Kindelberger, food service director at Sandy Valley Local School District. “Students have loved some of our new reduced sodium menu items, including the chicken queso chowder and buffalo chicken melt.”

Petersburg School District (Alaska) is receiving the “Innovation in the Preparation of School Meals” award for their commitment to creating scratch and semi-scratch foods that incorporate local and culturally relevant ingredients like moose meat, carrots, herring eggs, and kale. “We recently had the Petersburg Indian Association come into the culinary classes to help the students prepare moose roasts and a moose stock gravy,” says Carlee Johnson McIntosh, food service director, Petersburg School District. “Then, we had a lunch taste testing of the moose roasts and moose gravy for our students.”

Regional School Unit 89 (Maine) is receiving the “Innovation in Preparation of School Meals” award for incorporating more scratch cooking into menu items, such as homemade sub rolls using their oatmeal bread recipe, homemade croutons, pickles and roasted chickpeas. RSU 89 has also partnered with local farm Keep Ridge Farm in Benedicta to source produce like squash, onion, eggs, carrots and kale. They host monthly taste tests allowing the student body to determine what the next new menu item will be. “At our annual Thanksgiving meal, we featured Keep Ridge Farm roasted squash, local farmer Steve Crouse’s potatoes that we boiled and mashed, and turkey from USDA Foods in our homemade gravy and homemade stuffing,” said Denise Tapley Proctor, food service director at RSU 89. “The meal was well received by the community, and the reactions of our kids make us love the change in direction our school is making to more scratch cooking.”

For more information about the awardees, please visit the HMI Awardee Spotlight webpage.

Additional Background

These awards spotlight innovative practices, student and community engagement activities, and strategies schools have used to provide meals that are consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Schools can apply for awards in a range of categories that recognize their efforts to reduce sodium and added sugars in school meals, provide nutrition education, and involve students and families in meal planning.

The Recognition Awards application is available on the HMI website. USDA and Action for Healthy Kids recently streamlined the application process to make it easier for school nutrition professionals to apply. School districts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the United States Virgin Islands are eligible to apply for the Recognition Awards if they participate in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis over a two-year period ending June 30, 2025.

School districts and others interested in learning more can join an HMI Recognition Awards Informational Webinar on Wednesday, March 6, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET.

USDA established the HMI Initiative as part of its commitment to investing in the future of our nation’s children. This initiative empowers schools to continue serving delicious, healthy meals, while giving students the critical nutrition they need to grow, thrive, and reach their full potential. The HMI initiative is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions toward implementing the White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

“We’re seeing incredible efforts and innovative accomplishments by school nutrition professionals, as they provide their students with healthy, nutritious meals,” said USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long. “The benefits of school meals to children are undeniable, and we are committed to doing our part to support school meal programs nationwide.”

About USDA

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

About Action for Healthy Kids

Action for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by bringing together and mobilizing educators, families, and other key stakeholders to help children lead healthy lives. Through its core programming and family-school partnerships, Action for Healthy Kids has impacted more than 20 million children in 55,000 schools nationwide to address systemic challenges in underserved communities. To learn more about its growing network of volunteers and champions, visit: actionforhealthykids.org.

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