With Trump rollback, school lunch could get more white bread

Is white bread about to make a comeback on school lunch menus? The Trump administration rolled back a rule that required foods like pasta and bread be made with whole grains. The rollback addresses rules on grains, milk and salt championed by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Since 2014, schools had been required to serve only whole grain versions of food as part of the national school lunch program, a critical source of free and reduced-price meals for millions of children. The idea is that whole grains would be more nourishing and help cultivate healthy habits amid alarming obesity rates .

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is among the parties suing over the rollback, notes the standards were based on the government’s own dietary guidelines and that most schools were successfully meeting them. In December, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the USDA was going back to the old standard.

A recent USDA report that found that ... students took advantage of lunches more often in schools with healthier lunches. The American Heart Association likewise criticized the decision to relax the rules and called on school districts to stick to the previous standards, which also included stricter rules on salt and milk.

https://www.apnews.com/b1be9f0f856542a5af962a2f5d7806d5