WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday rolled back the country's healthy school lunch standards promoted by former first lady Michelle Obama, citing the move will give schools more flexibility.
In an interim final rule, U.S. states are allowed to exempt schools in the 2017-2018 school year from having to replace all their grains with whole-grain rich products if they are having a hard time meeting the standard.
The U.S. Agriculture Department also postpones further sodium reductions for at least three years and allows schools to serve non-whole grain rich products occasionally as well as one percent flavored milk.
"This announcement is the result of years of feedback from students, schools, and food service experts about the challenges they are facing in meeting the final regulations for school meals," Perdue said in a statement. This is his first major action in office.
"If kids aren't eating the food, and it's ending up in the trash, they aren't getting any nutrition - thus undermining the intent of the program."
Sodium levels in U.S. school lunches now must average less than 1,230 milligrams in elementary schools; 1,360 mg in middle schools; and 1,420 mg in high school.
Before Perdue's rule, schools were expected to reduce sodium even further to average less than 935 milligrams in elementary schools, 1035 milligrams in middle school lunches and 1,080 in high school lunches by July 1, 2017. Further reductions were set to take effect by July 1, 2022, according to a TheHill daily news report.
The former standards also required all grains, including croutons and the breading on chicken patties, to be whole grain rich in U.S. schools.
"Improving children's health should be a top priority for the USDA, and serving more nutritious foods in schools is a clear-cut way to accomplish this goal," American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a statement before Purdue's announcement.
The Obama administration started introducing healthier school meal rules in 2012 as part of the then first lady's "Let's Move" campaign to combat childhood obesity.
The Obama administration rules set fat, sugar and sodium limits on foods in the lunch line and beyond. U.S. schools have long been required to follow government nutrition rules if they accept federal reimbursements for free and reduced-price meals for low-income students, but these standards were stricter.
