Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406080083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The fries might show up on a menu later in the week.
That's the spirit of regulations the Agriculture Department will announce today: nudging schools toward better diets but not trying to deny 25 million children everything their taste buds crave.
Four years from now, schools will have to make sure that no more than 30 percent of lunch calories come from fat, and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat.
The lunches will have to cut down on sodium and cholesterol, although no specific levels are set. Lunches will have to provide more fiber, meaning more fruits, vegetables and grains.
Those guidelines were published by the government in 1990 as a way to help Americans avoid cancer, heart disease, hardening of the arteries and other disease linked to diet. To give schools more flexibility, the rules say menus can be based on a week's worth of meals. Children might enjoy ham on a croissant one day - about 33 percent fat - but make up for it with grilled chicken and rice the next - about 20 percent fat. They might get one chocolate cake a week for dessert, with fruit served the other four. ``It's all in how you plan the menu,'' said Mary Begalle, a registered dietician and head of food service for Rosemount, Minn., schools, which have been cutting fat for three years. ``It's not one food item.''
``Really, what these rules will do is force people toward better menu planning,'' she said. ``When you have an entree that's a little bit higher in fat, then you need to couple that with other meal choices or food choices that are naturally low in fat.''
Schools won't be bound by ``meal patterns,'' the requirement that lunch offer 2 ounces of meat or other protein source; two servings, measured at three-quarters of a cup, of fruits or vegetables; bread or an alternative, such as taco chips; and milk.
The menu was to make sure pupils got one-third of their daily calories, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals. Those requirements still will have to be met. Computer technology has made such flexibility possible. The department and private companies have software that list the nutrients in most foods. Poorer and smaller school districts will have access to menu plans from larger schools, contractors or state agencies if they can't afford computers. Schools, for example, can serve a 1.5-ounce hamburger and can afford leaner meat because of the smaller portion. The rest of the protein could come from the yogurt or some other food.
The rules nudge the nation's 92,000 schools that take part in the school meals programs toward compliance. School won't lose their reimbursement from the department, worth about $4.3 billion this year, unless they absolutely refuse to try. Also, the rules speak no ill of the commodity program under which the department spends about $600 million a year to provide schools with meat, processed foods and other items that consumer groups say are high in fat, salt and other bad things.
The department has, in fact, increased the fresh fruit and vegetable purchases under that program.
The sacred cow - whole milk - remains untouched, too. The department says Congress will have to change the law that now requires school districts to offer whole milk.
by CNB