Milk

Schools may currently offer fat-free and low-fat (1 percent fat) milk, flavored and unflavored, in reimbursable school lunches and breakfasts and for sale as a competitive beverage. Unflavored milk must be offered at each school meal service.

Fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, may also be offered to participants ages 6 and older in the Special Milk Program (SMP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

USDA decided to maintain the current requirement for milk in school meals. All schools continue to have the option to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, to K-12 students, and to sell fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, à la carte. Consistent with current requirements, unflavored milk must be offered at each school lunch and breakfast meal service. SMP and CACFP operators may continue to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored, to participants ages 6 and older.

Flavored milk offered to K-12 students in school lunch and breakfast and sold to students à la carte during the school day must comply with the product-based added sugars limit in this rule, to be implemented by school year 2025-26 (beginning July 1, 2025). Flavored milk must contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces, or for flavored milk sold à la carte in middle and high schools, 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces.

USDA received thousands of comments regarding the proposed milk provisions. The decision to continue to allow flavored, fat-free and low-fat milk acknowledges concerns expressed in public comments about declining milk consumption among school-aged children and that school meals can play an important role in supporting milk consumption among children. Comments also noted that offering flavored milk, which is a more palatable option for some children, improves children’s milk consumption and reduces milk waste. USDA recognizes that dairy products, including fluid milk, provide a variety of essential nutrients – some of which (e.g., calcium, vitamin D, and potassium) are underconsumed among school-aged children.

At the same time, a recent analysis of USDA’s School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study data found that flavored milk is the leading source of added sugars in both the school lunch and breakfast programs, contributing almost half of the added sugars in lunches and about 30 percent of the added sugars in breakfasts. The limit on added sugars in flavored milk that must be implemented by school year 2025-26 is intended to reduce schoolchildren's exposure to added sugars. USDA considered product availability when developing this rule, as well as the implementation timeframes. For example, companies representing more than 90 percent of the school milk market in the U.S. have committed through the Healthy School Milk Commitment to provide school milk options with no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 ounces by school year 2025-26. This commitment aligns with USDA’s required limits on added sugars for flavored milk.

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is the bill from Congress that funds USDA through Sept. 30, 2024. Under the Appropriations Act, schools must be permitted to serve low-fat or fat-free flavored milk as part of a reimbursable meal in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Flavored milk must be allowed for participants ages 6 and older in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

The milk updates made by the final rule are consistent with the Appropriations Act. All K-12 schools may continue to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, both flavored and unflavored. Added sugar product-based limits for flavored varieties of milk must be implemented by school year 2025-26. Additionally, CACFP operators may continue to serve both flavored and unflavored milk to participants ages 6 and older.