School Meal Standards.pdf

The US Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service has updated the meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The final rule, effective March 26, 2012, requires schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals. The rule also reduces the levels of sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat in meals and meets the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements.

Key changes include:

Offering fruits and vegetables as separate meal components
Offering whole grains, with half of grains being whole grain-rich upon implementation and all grains being whole-grain rich two years post-implementation
Offering fluid milk that is fat-free and low-fat
Reducing sodium content of meals gradually over a 10-year period
Preparing meals using food products or ingredients that contain zero grams of trans fat per serving
Requiring students to select a fruit or vegetable as part of the reimbursable meal

The rule phases in many of the changes to help ensure successful implementation, with compliance beginning July 1, 2012. The estimated cost of the final rule is $3.2 billion over 5 years, which is expected to be covered by increased revenue streams from a la carte foods and performance-based reimbursement. The rule aims to enhance the diet and health of school children and help mitigate the childhood obesity trend.