ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 22, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- As 53 million elementary and secondary school students head back to the classroom in the coming weeks, school foodservice professionals are preparing for a year in which more children than ever will eat school breakfast and lunch. This makes the good news that school meals are exceptionally safe and more nutritious than ever all the more important.
Student participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program have both increased in each of the past 19 years and is projected to do so again during the 2001-02 school year. The most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that more than 4.57 billion lunches were served under the NSLP in 2000, as well as over 1.30 billion school breakfasts.
"School foodservice directors and their staffs all around the country face a dual challenge," said American School Food Service Association (ASFSA) President Marcia L. Smith, SFNS. "We can't take these increasing numbers as a given -- our kitchens must continually provide choices that are both appealing and nutritious for today's students. And as we succeed, we need to be prepared to serve increasing numbers of kids quickly and efficiently."
As more and more parents rely on schools to provide lunch, and increasingly breakfast as well, for their children, they should be heartened by some recent research findings about the nutritional value of school meals. The School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study - II (SNDA-II) released by USDA this past January showed continued improvement in the nutritional quality of meals offered at school.
While the first SNDA study in 1994 showed that 71 percent of all secondary schools were offering meals that meet the Dietary Guidelines for fat content in school lunches, SNDA-II reported that 91 percent of secondary schools were meeting this standard. At the elementary school level, performance also was way up -- from 34 percent of all elementary schools in the first study to 82 percent in SNDA-II.
"There are a number of reasons for these significant improvements in reducing fat levels," Smith said. "School foodservice professionals have made significant changes in the menus they plan and the recipes and ingredients they use. Additionally, credit should be given to USDA for improving its specifications for commodity food purchases and to the food industry for developing high-quality, reduced-fat alternatives of foods that kids like."
By law, school breakfasts are required to meet one-quarter of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of several key nutrients, while school lunches are required to provide one-third of the RDA for these nutrients. SNDA-II found that school meals meet or exceed virtually all the RDA targets. In addition, the study reported that 95 percent of all school lunch menus provide at least two choices of milk, while about two-thirds of lunch menus provide more than the required two fruit and vegetable choices. One quarter of school lunch menus provide five or more fruit and vegetable choices.
A recent Eastern Michigan University study also showed that school lunches are both more nutritious and more economical than bag lunches brought from home. While nutrition is a major concern, however, parents also worry about food safety. And according to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), school foodservice operations have a very strong track record in this area. Nationwide, schools serve about 33 million meals a day, yet during 1997 and 1998 combined, only 17 cases of foodborne illness resulting from school meals were reported.
"Any parent and any foodservice professional would tell you that that is still 17 too many," Smith said, "but in the context of the amount of meals we serve, I think school foodservice professionals have a track record for safety that would be the envy of any other industry."
ASFSA (http://www.asfsa.org) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing more than 55,000 members who provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country. Founded in 1946, ASFSA is the only association devoted exclusively to protecting and enhancing children's health and well-being through school meals and sound nutrition education.
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CONTACT: ASFSA, Alexandria
Joseph Haas
(703) 739-3900, ext. 122
Jhaas@asfsa.org