House Passes Bill to Restore Whole Milk to National School Lunch Program

The lack of whole milk in schools has been ‘limiting healthy choices’ for students, a lawmaker said.

Milk at a grocery store in Columbia, Md., on May 17, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The House of Representatives on Dec. 15 passed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025, which seeks to restore whole milk to the United States’ school nutrition programs.

The bill passed the Senate in November. With the passage in the House, the bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

Beginning in the 2011–2012 school year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) limited milk made available via the National School Lunch Program to flavored and non-flavored low-fat and skim milk varieties following decades of concerns about fat content in school meals.

Skim milk contains less than 0.5 percent milk fat, and low-fat milk contains 1 percent. Whole milk contains 3.25 percent milk fat.

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act modifies the USDA restrictions, allowing flavored and unflavored whole milk to be provided as well. The milk can be either organic or non-organic.

“I have worked for a decade to restore whole milk to our school cafeterias, which have been limiting healthy choices for students, but that changes today,” Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), who sponsored the bill in the House, said in a Dec. 15 statement. “Whole milk is an essential building block for a well-rounded and balanced diet, and students should have the option to choose the milk they love.”

Under current rules, schools must provide students with disabilities a substitute for fluid milk when provided with a written statement from a licensed physician. According to the Whole Milk Act, a parent or legal guardian can write the request.

USDA regulations currently mandate that the average saturated fat content of school meals be less than 10 percent of the total calories.

The act excludes fluid milk from being taken into account in this calculation. Milk fat included in any fluid milk provided under the National School Lunch Program must not be considered saturated fat when measuring compliance with USDA rules, according to the bill.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins welcomed the House passage of the bill in a Dec. 16 post on X, calling it a “commonsense win for school nutrition and America’s dairy farmers.”

A woman sits next to a milk ad while waiting for a bus in San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2006. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“It restores real choices kids actually enjoy and helps ensure the next generation grows up healthy and strong,“ Rollins said. ”It’s more than a policy change. It’s a practical way to promote health nationwide, support our farmers, and help the next generation thrive. Putting Farmers First. Making America Healthy Again.”

Harmful or Beneficial?

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act has faced criticism.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit, called it “dangerous legislation” in an April 1 statement.

The committee said the bill prioritizes the profits of the dairy industry. The nonprofit has about 17,000 members who are doctors.

Early signs of high cholesterol, heart disease, and other signals of cardiovascular disease are showing an increasing frequency among children, the group said, warning that adding full-fat whole dairy to school meals will only result in more health issues for American children.

“This bill might improve the dairy industry’s sales, but it’s doing so at the expense of children’s health,” Neal Barnard, president of the committee, said.

“Congress should be putting less saturated fat on school lunch trays, not more, and it can do that by making it easier for students to access nondairy beverages and plant-based entrees.”

According to the committee, whole milk does not provide any nutrients that cannot already be found in other food sources. For instance, protein can be sourced from drinks such as soy milk that do not have saturated fat. Similarly, calcium can be sourced from fortified orange juice, nuts, broccoli, and kale.

During an April 1 Senate committee hearing, Keith Ayoob, associate clinical professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, countered claims that whole milk poses a health risk to children.

Since 2010, nutrition science evidence has evolved to no longer support a policy of allowing only fat-free and low-fat milk in schools, Ayoob said.

“A systematic review of studies that looked at cardiometabolic health in children ages 2 to 18 years found that consumption of dairy products, including whole and reduced-fat milk, had no association with cardiometabolic risk,” Ayoob said.

Ayoob said that nutrition is not a “static science,” but a dynamic one. As such, we should fine-tune recommendations as credible science keeps evolving, he said.

Cows stand in the milking parlor of a dairy farm in New Vienna, Iowa, on July 24, 2023. Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) welcomed the passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in a Dec. 15 statement.

IDFA President Michael Dykes said whole milk provides 13 essential nutrients that contribute to children’s growth and development and ensure healthy immune function and overall wellness. He attributed health benefits such as less weight gain, lower childhood obesity, and a neutral or lower risk of heart disease to whole milk.

“[The bill’s passage] marks a defining victory for children’s health and for the dairy community that has fought for more than a decade to restore whole and 2 percent milk for our nation’s students,” he said.

“We ask for the President to sign the bill into law so the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can begin working with state governments and school districts across the country to make this law a reality. Our nation’s dairy farmers and processors are ready to work alongside USDA to restore whole milk to every American school.”