NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If your kids eat school lunches, you might be happy to hear these lunches are getting healthier.
This year, schools have to meet new sodium reduction targets issued by the USDA.
The School Nutrition Association says to meet these new requirements, schools will be preparing more meals from scratch and cutting back on buying ready-made meals.
Here's what these changes look like!
For grades K through 5, over the week, sodium levels per meal must average less than 1110 milligrams. Which is about half a teaspoon.
To put that in perspective, the Mayo Clinic says just one kid's fast food meal can easily exceed 1500 milligrams of sodium.
And more changes could be coming to school meals in the future.
The USDA is working on additional rules that could also limit added sugar. Currently, there are no guidelines for that.
