ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Kids who have a beef with their school menu are getting a new alternative with the government's blessings: yogurt for lunch.
Over strenuous objections of the cattle industry, the Agriculture Department has decided to allow yogurt as a meat substitute in the nation's school lunchrooms.
Child-care providers and the food industry have been clamoring for the change for at least 15 years. School officials predict yogurt will be a hit with kids.
``They love it,'' said Katie Wilson, who runs the school lunch program in West Salem, Wis. ``The little kids we have now grew up with yogurt.''
Yogurt is low in fat and will offer a needed alternative for children who cannot or don't eat meat, said Mary Ann Keefe, USDA's acting undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
The department already allows schools to substitute cheese, beans, eggs and peanut butter for meat. Yogurt will be added to the approved list of substitutes by the end of this week, Keefe said Monday.
``We find that the more choices are available for a school lunch, the more children who participate in it,'' Keefe said.
The government currently requires two ounces of meat or its equivalent in every school lunch. Under the new USDA rule, an eight-ounce cup of yogurt could substitute.
For years the Agriculture Department had been troubled by yogurt's lack of iron and niacin, but decided to leave it up to school nutritionists to ensure that meals were balanced.
``The USDA is confirming what school cafeteria workers have always known - namely that greater choices at lunch time mean far less food tossed away, uneaten, often at taxpayer expense,'' said Joe Rutledge, a vice president for Minneapolis-based General Mills Inc.
General Mills makes Yoplait, the No. 2-selling brand, and Colombo yogurts.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB