Whole milk might be coming to your native school cafeteria for the primary time in greater than a decade.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a bill that permits faculties taking part in the National School Lunch Program to serve entire and a pair of% milk alongside fat-free and low-fat variations.
The transfer comes per week after the US Department of Health and Human Services launched new US dietary guidelines that spotlight whole-fat dairy merchandise, a advice that has obtained combined opinions from nutritionists and medical consultants.
The new laws, which handed Congress final 12 months by unanimous consent, rolls again US Department of Agriculture guidelines accepted by the Obama administration that required milk served in faculties to be fat-free or low-fat, a part of efforts to battle the childhood weight problems epidemic. The new legislation additionally permits nondairy drinks which can be “nutritionally equivalent” to fluid milk to be supplied, such as fortified plant-based milks.
“Removing whole milk did not improve health, it damaged it,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated on the White House signing occasion, claiming that some college students turned to caffeinated and sweetened drinks as a substitute of skim or low-fat milk. “Milk fat is not junk food.”
The USDA has pushed entire milk, posting on X this week a picture of Trump carrying a milk mustache and standing in entrance of a glass of milk, with the phrases “Drink Whole Milk” on the backside.
More entire milk was bought in the US in 2024 than different sorts, with 2% coming in second, based on USDA information. Low-fat and skim milk gross sales have been a distant third and fourth.
The National School Lunch program serves practically 30 million youngsters, about two-thirds of whom obtain free or reduced-price meals.
Whole milk and a pair of% milk is not going to seem in faculties in a single day. There are a number of steps earlier than it’s supplied in cafeterias, based on the School Nutrition Association, which represents greater than 50,000 school vitamin professionals.
Schools might want to consider how a lot curiosity there may be amongst college students for these choices after which talk about availability and worth with their suppliers.
Whole milk is costlier than skim milk, which can show to be a barrier for some cash-strapped school districts, stated Liz Campbell, a registered dietician nutritionist and the affiliation’s vice chairman for presidency affairs. Also, the availability of milk choices varies extensively by area.
What’s extra, it’s unclear whether or not entire milk and a pair of% milk may be served at breakfast. USDA officers stated at an affiliation convention this week that the brand new laws addresses solely entire milk and a pair of% milk at lunch, based on Campbell.
The company has not responded to NCS’s request for clarification. The USDA’s steerage on the legislation, posted Wednesday, references solely expanded choices for school lunch packages.
Whole milk and a pair of% milk ought to be obtainable in faculties quickly, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated on the White House bill signing.
“It should just take a few weeks, and then the milk starts moving in,” she stated.
Dairy producers additionally promised to assist school districts implement the legislation.
“Since 2012, when federal nutrition rules took whole and 2% milk out of school meals programs, dairy farmers and their cooperatives have pointed out the flaws in that decision, which wasn’t aligned with consumer choice,” Gregg Doud, CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, stated in an announcement when the House handed the bill final month.
For many years, the US dietary pointers really helpful low-fat or fat-free dairy for everybody older than 2, they usually really helpful that saturated fats consumption be lower than 10% of day by day energy.
The 2025-30 dietary pointers favor full-fat dairy with no added sugars, calling for 3 servings per day for somebody on a 2,000-calorie eating regimen. The new pointers didn’t change the advice for total saturated fats consumption.
Under the brand new laws, nonetheless, fluid milk is not going to be counted in the saturated fats content material calculations, and milk fats in fluid milk is not going to be thought-about saturated fats in figuring out compliance with USDA rules. So college students and fogeys who’re monitoring diets must bear in mind the extra fats from entire milk.
The American Heart Association voiced issues concerning the new dietary pointers’ deal with whole-fat dairy. Instead, the group encourages low-fat and fat-free dairy merchandise, which may be helpful to coronary heart well being, it stated in an announcement.
The new legislation supplies college students with extra choices, Campbell stated, noting that the up to date dietary pointers maintained the earlier advice for complete saturated fats consumption.
“Full-fat milk can fit into a healthy diet,” she stated.
Whole fats milk just isn’t dangerous for most youngsters, although some might have lower-fat choices for well being causes, stated Amy Reed, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Whether providing entire milk in school will immediate college students to drink it moderately than juice or different drinks stays to be seen, Reed stated.
NCS’s Katherine Dillinger and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.