IOM Recommended Voluntary Nutrition Standards

·  While supportive of the efforts of the IOM Committee’s recommendations, SNA is concerned about implementation of such standards and the lack of enforcement of voluntary nutrition standards.

·  The nutrition standards recommended by IOM will be challenging to implement at the school level due to lack of available products that meet the standards as well as lack of coordinated and funded nutrition education directed at students.

·  The IOM standards will provide a level playing field that will apply nutrition standards to vending, a la carte and fundraising food sales in the school environment.

·  The emphasis placed by the IOM on reimbursable meals through NSLP and SBP as the primary source of nutritious, balanced food in schools is commendable.

NUTRITION STANDARDS

·  As professionals that work in and make decisions for school cafeterias across the country, the School Nutrition Association supports the Institute of Medicine’s effort to create standards for school food; however we are concerned about the lack of enforcement of these voluntary nutrition standards.

·  The Association is an ardent supporter of enforceable, science-based, federal nutrition standards for foods and beverages available both inside and outside of the school meal programs.

·  The Secretary of Agriculture should have the authority to regulate the sale of food and beverages throughout the entire school, throughout the school day. We cannot have one set of standards in the cafeteria and another set of standards, or no standards, down the hall.

·  While most legislative efforts focus on nutrition standards for vending machines and a la carte lines, comprehensive, science-based, standardized nutrition guidelines are necessary.

·  We need consistent standards in the school to send a consistent nutrition education message to students. Schools need to serve as role models for students, we need to lead by example with the foods we sell and make available for students.

·  As school nutrition program operators it is challenging to obtain products that meet the varying state and local guidelines. Food and beverage companies are struggling at the manufacturing level to meet the wide variety of standards that exist and costs increase

·  The variety and disparity of standards throughout the country are forcing an increase in our food costs, which we cannot accommodate, given the current Federal reimbursement levels.

·  State education and agriculture agencies are struggling as well as they interpret new standards and provide training on new requirements that may change annually.

·  Current law requires that meals served be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans but states and local school districts may interpret them differently. Some are more concerned with sodium, some with fat, others with the total average nutrients.

·  Some states consider the USDA Guidelines a minimum standard that they can “exceed” while others consider the USDA Guidelines to be THE standard that must be followed precisely.