The Department of Agriculture proposed new changes for school meals Friday. They include the first limits on added sugars like those found in cereal, sweet breaded products, and flavored milk.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who announced the changes, said they included gradually decreasing the amount of sodium in school lunches by 2029.“The purpose of this is to improve the health and welfare of our children. And I think everybody who comes to this issue shares that goal, and hopefully, collectively, we can make sure it happens,” Vilsack told CNN.
Added sugar currently makes up 17% of the calories in school breakfasts and 11% in school lunches, but by the 2027-28 school year, that's expected to drop to 10% in each meal. The guidelines would reduce sodium intake to a third of what students eat now by the fall of 2029. “School meals happen to be the meals with the highest nutritional value of any meal that children can get outside the home,” Vilsack told the Associated Press.
Critics of the new proposals, however, are skeptical about whether rural or small schools can handle the adjustments. Vilsack responded that the department would fund grants of up to $150,000 to help the smaller and rural schools make the changes.
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