WASHINGTON—New federal standards that require most schools receiving federal funds for breakfast and lunch to increase fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while reducing sodium, saturated fat and trans fat among other things became effective July 1, 2012. The rules, the first major overhaul of school nutrition standards in 15 years, stemmed from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2011 and better align school-meal nutrition with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and are intended to help curb rising obesity rates.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the new federal standards require most schools offer fruits and vegetables as two separate meal components; offer fruit daily at breakfast and lunch; offer vegetables daily at lunch, including specific subgroups weekly (dark green, orange, legumes, for example) and a limited quantity of starchy vegetables each week; offer whole grain foods (half of the grains must be whole-grain-rich this year); all grains must be whole-grain-rich by 2014; offer fat-free milk (unflavored and flavored) and low-fat milk (unflavored only); offer meals that meet specific calorie ranges for each age group; reduce sodium content of meals over 10 years; and prepare meals using ingredients that contain zero grams of trans fat per serving.
