Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
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The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 amends the National School Lunch Act to let schools offer whole and 2% milk again, reversing a fat-content restriction that had limited cafeterias to low-fat and fat-free options.
It also expands allowed nondairy beverage options, lets parents (not just physicians) request milk substitutes for children with disabilities, excludes milk fat from saturated-fat meal calculations, and adds food-allergy training for school food service staff.
What this law does
What it does
The law amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to let schools participating in the National School Lunch Program offer students flavored or unflavored organic or nonorganic whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free, and lactose-free fluid milk, along with nondairy beverages that are nutritionally equivalent to milk and meet USDA nutritional standards, including fortification requirements. It removes the prior requirement tying milk offerings to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and it specifies that milk fat in fluid milk served under the program will not count as saturated fat when measuring a meal's compliance with USDA's saturated fat limits. It also allows a parent or legal guardian, not just a licensed physician, to request a milk substitute for a student whose disability restricts their diet. Separately, it amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require that mandatory training for local school food service personnel include a module on preventing, recognizing, and responding to food allergies, with annual certification of competence.
Key provisions
- 1Allows schools to offer flavored or unflavored, organic or nonorganic whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free, and lactose-free fluid milk to students.
- 2Expands allowed nondairy beverages to those nutritionally equivalent to milk and meeting USDA nutritional standards, including fortification requirements.
- 3Excludes milk fat in fluid milk served under the program from counting toward a meal's saturated fat content for compliance purposes.
- 4Permits a parent or legal guardian, in addition to a physician, to request a fluid milk substitute for a student with a qualifying disability.
- 5Requires mandatory local food service personnel training to include a module on preventing, recognizing, and responding to food allergies, with annual certification.
Who is affected
Public schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, their food service staff and administrators, and the students and families who rely on school meals — including students with disabilities or food allergies and parents seeking milk substitutions for their children. The Department of Agriculture, which administers the program and sets nutritional standards, is also directly affected.
Why it matters
Schools gain more flexibility to serve higher-fat milk options that had been effectively barred since 2012 nutrition standards, potentially increasing milk consumption and student choice. Parents can now authorize milk substitutes without a doctor's note, easing access for children with dietary needs, while new allergy training aims to reduce risks of allergic reactions in cafeterias.
What changed
Changes to existing law
Amends Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(a)(2)) (Sec. 2(a))
Allows schools to offer whole, reduced-fat, and other milk fat levels and nondairy beverages, and excludes milk fat from saturated fat compliance calculations.
Amends Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762a(f)) (Sec. 2(b)(1))
Adds nondairy beverages meeting nutritional standards as an option alongside milk in a conforming provision.
Amends Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769b(c)) (Sec. 2(b)(2))
Updates cross-reference to include nutritional standards for nondairy beverages alongside milk requirements.
Amends Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776(g)(2)(B)(iii)) (Sec. 3(a))
Inserts a new required training subclause on food allergy prevention, recognition, and response.
Amends Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776(g)(2)(B)(ii)(II)) (Sec. 3(b))
Extends the annual certification requirement to cover the new food allergy training clause.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 would have no significant effect on the federal budget, with zero impact on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit over the 2025–2035 period.
CBO estimates that S. 222 would produce no change in direct (mandatory) spending, revenues, or the deficit in any scoring window — 2025, 2025–2030, or 2025–2035. The bill would allow schools in the National School Lunch Program to serve whole, reduced-fat, or low-fat milk (flavored or unflavored) and would exclude milk's saturated fat from average-meal fat calculations; CBO expects these changes would not affect reimbursement rates or program participation. Administrative costs to update dietary regulations are estimated to be insignificant and would be subject to future appropriations. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How it works
The Department of Agriculture would need to update its regulations (such as those governing saturated fat compliance and nondairy beverage nutritional standards, including calcium, protein, vitamin A, and vitamin D fortification) to reflect the new milk and beverage options. Schools would adjust menus accordingly, accept parent or guardian statements for milk substitutions, and incorporate the new food allergy module into existing annual training and certification programs for food service personnel.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-69.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This act revises requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow schools to offer students whole and reduced-fat milk. The act also requires that local school food service personnel receive annual training and certification on food allergies.
The act permits schools to offer students whole, reduced-fat (2%), low-fat (1%), and fat-free flavored and unflavored milk. The milk that is offered may be organic or nonorganic. Currently, USDA regulations require milk to be fat-free or low-fat and allow milk to be flavored or unflavored. The act also removes the requirement that schools participating in the program must provide milk that is consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The act also expands the nondairy beverages that are included in the program by allowing schools to offer all students nondairy beverages that are nutritionally equivalent to fluid milk and that meet nutritional standards established by USDA.
Further, schools currently must provide a substitute for fluid milk, on receipt of a written statement from a licensed physician, for students whose disability restricts their diet. Under the act, a parent or legal guardian may also provide the written statement.
In addition, the act excludes fluid milk from the saturated fat content calculation for school meals. Currently, schools participating in the program must provide meals that meet certain nutrition requirements; USDA regulations require that the average saturated fat content of the meals offered must be less than 10% of the total calories. Under the act, milk fat included in any fluid milk provided by the program must not be considered saturated fat for the purposes of measuring compliance with USDA regulations.
Finally, the program's mandatory training and certification for local school food service personnel must include a module on food allergies, including information on the best practices to prevent, recognize, and respond to food-related allergic reactions. Food service personnel must receive an annual certification to demonstrate competence in the food allergies training and other training modules that are provided.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Agriculture and Food; Child health; Department of Agriculture; Elementary and secondary education; Food assistance and relief; Nutrition and diet