Sugar and salt will be reduced from foods served in schools across the country. This comes as the USDA issues new nutritional guidelines for schools, and Montgomery County Public Schools says they welcome the updated rules.
Sugar and salt will be reduced from foods served in schools across the country. This comes as the USDA issues new nutritional guidelines for schools, and Montgomery County Public Schools says they welcome the updated rules.
“We are excited about the direction these new rules will bring to our school nutrition programs,” said Elizabeth Leach, director of MCPS Food and Nutrition Services.
Some of the proposed changes include reducing the amount of added sugar in meals, so that by 2027 added sugar does not exceed 10% of the total weekly calories of school meals.
Leach said the school system already meets requirements when it comes to milk and cereal and will soon do the same with yogurt.
“We actually started tasting low-sugar yogurt this school year. We didn’t tell the students, of course, that it has less sugar, we just asked them if they liked it or not,” she said.
This yogurt will be on the menu full time in the fall.
For sodium, the new rules call for reducing the amount of salt in meals by about 30%, but schools will have the ability to phase in changes.
“We want to taste test recipes with students, and we want to make sure our new recipes are things that students will be excited about,” Leach said.
In schools, she said, 45% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and for many kids who fall into this category, the meals they get at school will be the most nutritious meals they will receive — so make sure they like them. Meals are important.
After all, if what is served is not delicious, it turns into waste.
“We want to feed their bellies, not our trash cans,” Leach said.
Another new rule allowing schools to serve cereal or protein — or a combination of the two for breakfast — is another part of the changes Leach welcomes.
“At the moment, we will not be able to offer yoghurt juice, which is very popular with children for breakfast, so we will not meet the full requirements,” she said.
She said the school system is already testing some juices, including raspberry, strawberry and peach.
With more cooking from scratch, Leach said the price of meals jumps, so the current federal reimbursement rate will need to go up as well.
“$4.35 for lunch and $2.28 for breakfast is not enough for school districts to purchase quality food, provide culinary training to staff and pay competitive wages, and purchase and maintain kitchen equipment,” Leach said.
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