Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
2/28/2025, 10:35 PMSummary of Bill HR 649
Bill 119 HR 649, also known as the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2021, aims to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools participating in the school lunch program to serve whole milk. Currently, the National School Lunch Program only allows for low-fat or fat-free milk to be served in schools.The bill argues that whole milk provides essential nutrients for growing children, such as calcium and vitamin D, and that restricting its availability in schools may be detrimental to students' health. Supporters of the bill believe that allowing schools to serve whole milk will give students more options and help promote healthier eating habits.
If passed, this bill would give schools the option to offer whole milk to students participating in the school lunch program. It is important to note that this bill does not mandate schools to serve whole milk, but rather gives them the flexibility to do so if they choose. Overall, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2021 seeks to provide schools with more flexibility in the types of milk they can offer to students, with the goal of promoting better nutrition and overall health among school-aged children.
Congressional Summary of HR 649
Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
This bill revises requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Currently, schools participating in the program must provide milk that is consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans; USDA regulations require milk to be fat-free or low-fat and allow milk to be flavored or unflavored. The bill modifies these restrictions and instead permits schools to offer students whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free flavored and unflavored milk. The milk that is offered may be organic or nonorganic. Further, USDA may not prohibit a participating school from offering students any of these milk choices.
Further, schools currently must provide a substitute for fluid milk, on receipt of a written statement from a licensed physician, for students whose disability restricts their diet. Under the bill, a parent or legal guardian may also provide the written statement.
In addition, schools currently participating in the program must provide meals that meet certain nutrition requirements; USDA regulations require that the average saturated fat content of the meals offered must be less than 10% of the total calories. Under the bill, fluid milk is excluded from the saturated fat content calculation; milk fat included in any fluid milk provided by the program must not be considered saturated fat for the purposes of measuring compliance with USDA regulations.
Finally, the bill prohibits schools participating in the program from purchasing or offering milk produced by Chinese state-owned enterprises.
