To what extent do state and district competitive food and beverage standards align with the usda's proposed rule?

Background: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a proposed rule to regulate competitive foods and beverages (F&B) in schools. One proposed option requires that competitive foods contain at least 10% of the daily value of calcium, potassium, vitamin D, or fiber and that they meet the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) recommended calorie and nutrient standards. Beverages must meet specific sugar, calorie and portion size standards. This paper will present nationwide baseline data on whether existing state and district policies meet the proposed rule's nutrient, calorie, and serving size standards.

Methods: A content analysis of state laws and district policies effective as of school year 2011-12 was conducted. State laws were compiled using commercial legal research databases. District policies were obtained from a nationally representative sample of over 700 districts. Laws/policies were analyzed to assess whether they met the USDA/IOM standards.

Results: State and district policies were consistently more likely to meet the standards for F&B sold at the elementary vs. the secondary school levels. Less than 1/3 of all state and districts policies governing vending machine sales met the food standards for sugars, fats, transfats, and calories and sugar content for beverages. State laws and district policies for à la carte lines and school stores; other nutrient, calorie, portion requirements; and secondary schools were less likely to meet the standards.

Conclusions: The USDA rule would provide an important nationwide standard for CF&B given that most states and districts policies fall far short of the proposed rule.