Federal regulators are considering taking chocolate milk off school lunch plans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is weighing whether to remove flavored milk — which also includes strawberry and other varieties — in its school meals guidelines for elementary and middle schools, according to media reports.
The agency has committed to new standards that would require flavored milk to have less added sugar.
Concerns about childhood obesity are driving the USDA’s interest in removing the tasty milk.
Roughly one in six children from ages 10-17 were overweight in 2020-21, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies obesity as having a body mass index over 30.
However, some school administrators caution that removing flavored milk will prevent kids from getting vital nutrients in their diet.
Jessica Gould, the director of nutrition services for Littleton Public Schools in Colorado, said her school district’s consumption of milk “significantly decreased” when it experienced problems procuring chocolate milk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Do we want kids to get the calcium, the protein, the additional nutrients that are part of milk?” Ms. Gould told The Wall Street Journal. “Because when we were only providing white milk, we did see a significant amount of students didn’t take milk in general.”
Once finalized, the USDA’s new guidelines will be phased in over a seven-year period beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The agency will determine how it wants to handle flavored milks in early 2024.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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