(The Center Square) – Children in schools across the country are a step closer to finding chocolate milk in their school lunchrooms.
Northwoods Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany says his chocolate milk protection plan cleared the House.
The plan, which would stop the Biden administration from banning chocolate milk in schools, is part of House Resolution 1147, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2023.
The ban on flavored milk for school children out of a concern for too much sugar was proposed in February. Tiffany said getting rid of chocolate milk would likely lead to fewer youngsters drinking milk.
Tiffany cited the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in saying removing flavored milk from schools would result in a 62% to 63% reduction in milk consumption by kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, and a 50% reduction in sixth through eighth grades.
His chocolate milk protection plan would also protect strawberry milk.
“Some may ask why we are focusing on this issue,” Tiffany said. “Unfortunately, it’s because the USDA has its sights on getting rid of chocolate milk in schools. It is now up to us to act.”
The Department of Agriculture said, in its proposed rule, that its public hearings in 2022 showed a growing concern about what chocolate and other flavored milks mean for students in the nation’s schools.
“Some respondents cited concerns about the amount of added sugars in flavored milk, suggesting that USDA address this concern,” the USDA said in its argument for a flavored milk ban. “A few respondents recommended that USDA disallow all flavored milks in the programs; one advocacy organization was concerned that offering flavored milk every day would train a child’s palate to prefer sugar-sweetened foods. Another advocacy organization focused on public health suggested that if USDA continues to allow flavored, low-fat milk, it should establish a limit to prevent schools from serving flavored milks that are high in added sugars.”
Tiffany said he trusts parents and families more than the USDA or advocacy groups.
“For those of you with young children or grandchildren, go and ask them what they think about USDA’s new rule,” Tiffany said. “I think I can speak for most folks when saying that when I was young, chocolate milk was usually the highlight of having lunch at school. But this new rule would mean that the roughly 30 million students who participate in the USDA’s school meal programs would no longer be able to have chocolate milk, or any flavored milk for that matter.”
New Mexico Democratic Congressman Gabe Vasquez is the co-sponsor.
