Agriculture Dept. Proposes Limits on Sugar and Salt in School Meals

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday proposed updated nutrition guidelines for school meals as part of its push to address childhood obesity, diabetes and other diseases.

The guidelines, which would bring school meal programs up-to-date with federal dietary standards, would gradually limit sugar and salt while increasing foods with whole grains.

“We know that there is a health care imperative, we know that there’s an equity imperative, we know that there’s an educational achievement imperative, and I believe there’s an economic competitiveness imperative wrapped up in these rules,” Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said in a call with reporters on Friday.

The proposed rules would build on the framework of a 2010 law that significantly changed nutrition standards for the first time in three decades — and became fodder for heated political debate almost immediately after its enactment.

The Trump administration continuously rolled back those standards. And during the pandemic, the Biden administration relaxed certain guidelines to help schools through coronavirus-related disruptions and supply chain issues.

The new rules, which are subject to a comment period, would limit the amount of sugar in certain foods beginning in the 2025-26 school year. For example, a serving of breakfast cereal would be capped at six grams of added sugars per ounce and a container of milk at 10 grams.

By the 2027-28 school year, no more than 10 percent of calories in school breakfasts and lunches could come from added sugars, a limit in line with the dietary guidelines.

Added sugars currently provide about 17 percent of calories in school breakfast and 11 percent in school lunches on average, according to a May government report. A major source is nonfat flavored milk, which contributed 29 percent of added sugars in school breakfasts.

The rules would also gradually place sodium limits on school meals. By the 2029-30 school year, schools would need to reduce sodium in meals by about a third from current levels. (Current school nutrition standards limit sodium for students in grades K-5 to 1,770 milligrams for breakfast and lunch, while the dietary guidelines recommend no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily for children ages 4 through 8.)

Lauren Au, a professor of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, commended the proposal for phasing in changes even if they do not immediately meet all dietary guidelines.

“This proposed standard is keeping into consideration the feasibility of carrying out something that is so big,” she said. “But from a nutrition standpoint, the added sugars and sodium are some of the biggest concerns within school meals.”

Industry groups expressed concern about the rules.

The National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association said that while they were pleased that the nutrition guidelines still allowed both 1 percent and fat-free flavored milk, they said they were worried about what they called a push to limit milk and dairy.

“For years, parents and nutrition professionals have agreed that milk and dairy products must remain key building blocks in school meals,” said Michael Dykes, the president of the dairy association.

Health and school nutrition groups had mixed reactions.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s child nutrition program described the rules as a “step in the right direction” but still insufficient in meeting dietary recommendations.

The School Nutrition Association, which represents cafeteria workers and directors across the country, called the guidelines “unrealistic,” citing a recent survey by the group in which 88 percent of school districts said they were struggling to source ingredients that meet current guidelines.

Professor Au said the concerns were legitimate, but she hoped the gradual timeline would give industry groups room to reformulate products and offer schools more affordable options that meet the standards.

The Agriculture Department aims to finish the standards before the start of the 2024-25 school year.