Arizona schools weigh in on salt, sugar limits in proposed school meal plans

By Elenee Dao

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    QUEEN CREEK, Arizona (KNXV) — A major overhaul for school lunches could be coming, and schools already had a feeling it would happen. It would be the first major change in school meals in years.

“It wasn’t a surprise to us. We’re used to adapting to the new recommendations,” said Dustin Walker, the director of child nutrition at the Queen Creek Unified School District.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a proposed plan to limit sugar and reduce salt in school meals in the next few years.

The agency says it wants to follow the goals of the most recent report in Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which said kids are eating too much sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. The USDA says kids are also not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which it says is leading to a rise in diet-related diseases.

In the proposal, the USDA is planning to limit added sugar. Currently, there are no limits, so schools can put as much or as little as they want.

Walker said they were already concerned with the amount of added sugar, saying they had a “hall pass.” However, they’ve taken it upon themselves to limit the amount.

The proposed plan will limit sugar in certain foods in the first phase. Eventually, the rule will limit sugar to an average of less than 10% of calories per meal.

Walker said that won’t be a big issue for lunch, but it’ll be difficult for breakfast.

“Most of our lunch items are already within the 10% calorie range for added sugar, but breakfast items such as cereal, muffins, donuts, some of those items that we serve to the kids outside of the savory items will probably be impacted the most,” Walker said.

Another big change will be reducing sodium in student meals. Walker said it’ll eventually be a 300-milligram decrease over the years.

“Which is a lot,” he said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the manufacturers really, to make sure the pizza that we’re purchasing, our chicken, our pasta, all those things now meet the new sodium restrictions. That takes time. It takes a lot of testing.”

Luckily, there will be plenty of time before changes are made, which Walker appreciates.

If and when the new changes get approved, it’ll be a phased approach in how the new rules will be implemented. Reducing the amount of sodium in meals will be done over the years as well as limiting sugar.

It would start in 2024 with making sure whole grains are primarily offered, which currently, program regulations require at least 80% of grains offered to be whole grain. The phased schedule will then end in the fall of 2029 when sodium will be reduced in its second phase.

“If the proposed rules that they’re putting in place is going to help students combat obesity rates, [and] diet-related diseases, we’re here to help with that. We want the best for our kids,” Walker said.

There is no clear timeline on when the USDA’s new plan could be approved, however, it is asking for public input on the new plans from now through April 10. To weigh in, you can click here and give your thoughts.

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