Beverages in School Lunch Program Must Have Milk's Nutritional Value

Last week I informed you that "The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced [that] parents or legal guardians may request, in writing, soymilk as an alternative to cow's milk for children receiving National School Lunch and Breakfast Program meals."

That came from a press release put out by the Soyfoods Association of North America. Not surprisingly, they selectively quoted the announcement and left out the parts now about soymilk.

The International Dairy Foods Association was a little slower on the draw, but it sent out its own press release yesterday.

It also has good news for parents of lactose intolerant children.

[The] USDA also made statements that supported lactose-free milk as the beverage of choice for lactose intolerant children, although it was not included as part of the regulations. Lactose-free milk already is allowed in the school meal programs, and documentation is not required for a student to receive lactose-free milk instead of regular milk. USDA indicated that "there is no need to offer a fortified milk substitute to a student whose medical or special dietary need is lactose intolerance."

What the regulations actually say is that any other beverages served in the program must be the same nutritional value as milk:

Beverages that could substitute for fluid milk, such as soy beverage or fruit juice, will be required to be nutritionally equivalent to whole milk with regard to calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin and vitamin B-12 content. Currently there are no soy beverages that provide all of these nutrients at the same level as milk.

Note the sly dig at the soyfoods people.

I still can't find the source of this information on the USDA.gov website. The page on the National School Lunch Program hasn't be updated since July. I'll try to find the original ruling and see what other important tidbits it might have for people who don't have a side in this fight.