New U.S. School Lunch Standards Include Reductions on Added Sugar and Sodium

New U.S. School Lunch Standards Include Reductions on Added Sugar and Sodium

School meals are the main source of nutrition for more than half of American children. For the first time in U.S. history, added sugars will be limited in school meals nationwide. K-12 schools serve breakfasts and lunches to nearly 30 million children every school day, so these small changes to school meals are expected to make a big impact on pediatric health and nutrition. These meals play a vital role in kids growing up healthy.

Updated school nutrition standards went into effect July 1, 2024, and these changes will be phased in over the next several years. The new guidelines are science-based and were developed based on recommendations from nutrition experts, parents, the food industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new standards will result in a limit to added sugars for school lunches and breakfasts, including limits to the sugar that can be added to breakfast cereals, yogurt and flavored milk. Let’s look at these changes a little more closely:

Reduction in Added Sugars

Added sugars are sugars that are added during the processing of foods, and include sweeteners (such as table sugar), syrups, honey, and concentrated fruit juices. They do not include naturally occurring sugars that are found in milk, fruits, and veggies.

Breakfast cereals, yogurt and flavored milk often have high amounts of added sugar. Currently, there are no limits to added sugar. The new standards will limit the amount of added sugar that these products can have. Schools can continue to serve flavored milk, but they will have to choose products that have less added sugars.

In addition, there is a new weekly limit to added sugars. They will have to be reduced to less than 10 percent of total calories across the week. This weekly rule, however, will not have to be implemented by school programs until 2027. Currently, the USDA has not finalized a limit for grab-and-go breakfast items like breakfast bars and toaster pastries, which are often high in added sugars as well, but imposing the weekly sugar limit is expected to help reduce overall amounts of sugar that school children consume.

Reduction in Sodium

By the 2027 school year, schools will be required to implement an approximate 15% reduction for lunch and an approximate 10% reduction for breakfast sodium limits. Sodium limits will not apply per day or per menu item, but instead will apply to the average amount of sodium in lunch and breakfast menus offered during a school week. The 3-year implementation plan is based on feedback that it takes about 3 years for manufacturers to reformulate food products. There is also a commitment to continue studying sodium intake and their relationship to school lunch program adherence long-term.

The school breakfast and lunch standards continue to emphasize fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains. At least 80% of the weekly grains offered in the school lunch and breakfast programs need to continue to be whole grain-rich (meaning the grain content needs to be at least 50% whole grain). They also added provisions to allow more indigenous and culturally relevant foods for students, as applicable.

The takeaway is less sugars and sodium, which research has consistently shown that Americans consume way too much of. High sugar and sodium intake has been linked to poorer health outcomes.

Healthy, nutritious food is a basic human right, yet 1 in 5 children in Ohio live in food insecure households. Because hunger affects children during their most vital years of development, we know that children who grow up in food insecure households are more like to have behavioral problems, chronic disease, disabilities and developmental delays. There are many resources to help families gain access to healthy, nutritious food.

Go online to CAP4Kids to find more information about signing up for free school meals, reduced-cost produce, summer meal sites, healthy snacks and more health and nutrition information.