Education Week - April 24, 2013 - 10

EDUCATION WEEK

APRIL 24, 2013

www.edweek.org

Comments Weighed
On Vending Machine,
‘A La Carte’ Proposals
USDA sifts responses to pending regulations
High school students shouldn’t
have access to caffeinated or sugary drinks on campus. Snacks sold
at elementary and middle schools
shouldn’t have as many calories as
those sold in high schools. And perhaps schools shouldn’t have vending machines or a la carte lunch
lines at all.
Those thoughts are among the
nearly 250,000 comments sent to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
over the past few months in response to the agency’s proposal for
updating the nutritional standards
of school vending-machine fare,
items sold on a la carte lunch lines,
and other foods sold at school aside
from lunches and breakfasts. Comments were due by April 9.
Acting to regulate such items for
the first time in decades, the usda
has suggested limiting fat, calories, and sodium in those so-called
competitive foods—items that compete with highly regulated school
lunches and breakfasts. The agency
also wants those snacks and entrees to be made from whole grains,
fruits, vegetables, dairy products, or
protein; and would mandate that
they naturally contain such nutrients as calcium and fiber.
The regulations wouldn’t apply to
food sold for occasional fundraising
or at after-school events.
While many commenters agree
that the standards for the items at
issue need an overhaul, especially
because new and similar rules are
now in place for school lunches,
some attacked the usda proposal
as being too restrictive, while others found it didn’t go far enough.

National rules for competitive
foods would replace a patchwork
of state policies. A recent review
by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found 39
states have policies about such
foods and drinks, but some govern
only beverages; others apply only to
elementary and middle schools; and
some are merely recommendations.

Steve Earley/The Virginian-Pilot/AP-File

By Nirvi Shah

Objecting to Loopholes
While nutrition advocates said
they like a lot of what the usda
is proposing, they are concerned
about some of the particulars.
One big sticking point for such
advocates is about a loophole the
usda proposed for the nutritional
requirements of items sold a la
carte that have been served as
part of a school meal. The agency
asked for comments on one of two
possible ways lunch or breakfast
components could be sold a la carte.
Under one proposal, the department would allow these items to
be sold daily a la carte if they meet
proposed rules about sugar and fat.
The second proposal would allow
components to be sold any day they
are a part of school meals or within
four days of that.
Because many school menus are
cyclical, health advocates worry
schools would serve pizza and
french fries every day a la carte,
just as many do now. When those
foods are a part of a complete meal,
the entire meal must meet calorie,
sodium, fat, sugar, and other requirements; individual items sold
in school meals don’t have nutritional requirements.
“Permitting the sale of individual

items that do not meet nutrition
standards would undercut efforts
to promote healthier diets,” the
Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation told the usda.
“If parents want to allow their
children to have such items, that
is their choice. But schools should
not be in the business of selling unhealthy foods.”
But the School Nutrition Association, an Oxon Hill, Md.-based group
that represents those who run
school cafeterias, disagrees. Once
an item passes muster in the lunch
line, the group said, there should be
no limits on serving those foods on
a la carte lines. That would be too
complicated for cafeteria managers
and a double standard, it said.
Another issue: Competitive foods
would have to provide 10 percent
of the needed quantity of the daily
value of a naturally occurring nutrient listed as one of public-health
concern by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, created by the
usda and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services—including calcium and fiber. The usda
asked for opinions on whether

foods fortified with those nutrients
should be allowed.
“I’ve become concerned that even
the ‘naturally occurring’ standard
could easily become a hollow one
in the hands of the food industry,”
wrote Bettina Elias Siegel, the
author of a blog called The Lunch
Tray, in comments to usda. Ms. Siegel also runs the nutrition subcommittee of the school-health-advisory
council for the 204,000-student
Houston school district.
“A food producer can add to its
product a single natural ingredient for fortification purposes, such
as nonfat dry milk powder for its
calcium content,” Ms. Siegel wrote.
“But if the foods in question are
highly processed, ‘better-for-you’
junk foods—‘Baked Flamin’ Hot
Cheetos with Calcium’—the sale of
such items still falls far afield of the
agency’s laudable goal of encouraging children to enjoy more natural
foods in their whole state.”
The School Nutrition Association said it supports the 10 percent
proposal—and supports including
foods fortified with the nutrients—
but noted that the nutrient content
of some foods isn’t readily available.

Drink Dilemma
The agency’s proposal would keep
sodas and sports drinks out of elementary and middle schools but
allow them at high schools if they
have no more than 60 or 75 calories
in a 12-ounce serving. They could
even be sold during school meals—
just not in the cafeteria.
That means high school students
could keep buying low- or no-calorie sodas and other drinks besides
water, milk, and juice.
“We agree with the rationale to
offer some flexibility in beverage
choices in high schools but are concerned that sugary drinks are far
less healthy than other options,”
the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods
Project wrote in its comments.
“Sugary beverages add calories
with little or no nutritional benefit
and replace consumption of other
healthier beverage choices,” the
Washington-based advocacy group
said. “To ensure the healthiest options are available, we recommend
limiting the number of calories per

The U.S. Department of
Agriculture is eyeing the
nutritional content of foods sold
in school aside from highly
regulated lunch and breakfast.

container to as low as possible.”
But the School Nutrition Association supports drinks with more
calories—80 per 12-ounce serving—and selling those allowed in
vending machines in the cafeteria.
“To explicitly make certain beverages available outside of the
meal-service area during the mealservice period invites students to
make those purchases outside of,
and to the detriment of, the mealservice area,” the group said.
Another issue is the size of
snacks. The Dallas-based American
Heart Association wants the usda
to limit calories for snack foods, but
the organization doesn’t like that
the proposed limit of 200 calories
applies to all children.
“Calorie needs vary by age and
activity level and change as children grow older. A one-size-fits-all
approach is not appropriate,” the
group said. “Instead, we recommend that you establish maximum
calorie limits that vary by age
group as the agency did with the
school meals program. Using this
approach, younger children would
have lower calorie limits.”
And while creating an exemption
for foods sold as part of school fundraisers makes sense, the National
Education Association’s Health Information Network told the usda,
the agency needs to be clear about
what that means.
“Fundraisers like donut sales in
the morning, pizza sold outside the
cafeteria at lunch time, and candy
bar sales in the afternoon not only
impact student health, but also
compete with federally reimbursed
meals,” the nea group wrote. “Unhealthy fundraisers weaken the
ability of schools to promote and
provide healthy options throughout
the school day and over the whole
campus.”
The usda will issue final regulations after reviewing these comments. If those aren’t out by June
30, they won’t take effect until the
2014-15 school year, at the earliest.

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Education Week - April 24, 2013

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