Guideline Changes Coming to Texas School Meals: What To Know

Changes are on the way to school lunches after the USDA announced new nutrition guidelines.

For some students, the meals they receive at school are the only meal they will eat that day.

There are three bigs changes coming.

Sodium is being gradually reduced in school meals

The USDA updates nutritional guidelines for schools quite often to help nourish the students in the United States. One big change, reducing sodium.

Beginning on July 1, 2027, school lunches will see a 15% reduction from current limits, while sodium in breakfast meals will see a 10% reduction, according to the USDA.

Added sugars will now be limited in meals

For the first time, the USDA is also limiting added sugars after many parents expressed concerns of their children’s sugar intake. The rule will affect breakfast items, like yogurt, cereal, and flavored milk.

Currently, schools only have to meet weekly calorie limits, regardless of the added sugars in the foods they serve, according to the USDA.

Beginning on July 1, 2025, breakfast cereals served at schools will be limited to no more than 6 grams of added sugars per dry ounce; yogurt may have no more than 2 grams of added sugars per ounce; and flavored milk may have no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces.

A second rule, which will take effect on July 1, 2027, requires that added sugars be less than 10% of calories across the week in the school lunch and breakfast programs, according to the USDA.

Chocolate milk will still be served but with limits

The USDA said it will allow schools to continue to sell fat-free and low-fat and flavored and unflavored milk to students.

Beginning on July 1, 2025, however, flavored milk sold at schools will have to meet the new added sugar limits.

Flavored milk offered to K-12 students in school breakfast and lunch must contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces, according to the USDA, while flavored milk sold a la carte in middle and high schools must have no more than 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces.

Despite the changes, students will not see much of a difference and the healthier options will help their nutritional choices in the future.

The changes announced Wednesday are the first large-scale reform of school meal standards since President Barack Obama signed the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law. The Biden administration has also set forth a national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030.

The changes will be implemented slowly in the fall of 2025 and fully enacted by the fall of 2027.