Overview
- The House approved the bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act by voice vote, following the Senate's unanimous consent in November, sending it to President Trump.
- The measure permits schools in the National School Lunch Program to offer flavored and unflavored, organic or nonorganic whole and 2% milk, alongside existing low-fat options.
- Milk fat would be excluded from saturated fat calculations used to assess the average saturated fat content of school meals.
- Parents or licensed physicians could submit a written statement for a student to receive a nondairy substitute, after a months-long Senate hold over lactose intolerance classification was resolved.
- Industry groups praised the change while public-health organizations objected, and schools may face delays depending on USDA guidance, allergy-training and fortification provisions, and processor supply of whole milk.