000335 USDA Approves Soy For Full Use in School Lunches

Washington - USDA has approved a rule change that will allow soy products to be used fully in school lunch programs, replacing hamburgers and other fattening foods.

Under previous regulations, soy could be used only as an additive. The new rule permits soy products to be used on their own, as in soyburgers instead of hamburgers.

The new regulation will go into effect April 10, following a lengthy period of official notices and public comment, which ended this week when the new regulation was officially published in the Federal Register.

Agriculture Department officials have said their primary reason for adopting the new soy regulation is to improve the health of school lunch menus, particularly reducing the amount of fat consumed by school-aged children.

A soyburger, for example, contains only three grams of fat. A hamburger patty made from beef, by contrast, has l6 grams of fat -- more than five times more fat.

The new regulation also will allow schools to give students a wide choice of soy-based foods, including not only soyburgers but also tacos, ravioli and other foods that appeal to students.

USDA's Food and Nutrition Service received 635 comments on the rule change, with a vast majority -- 6l9 letters and e-mails -- approving the new soy role. Most comment came from the general public, with smaller numbers of statements from state and local officials, the food industry, and health advocates.

Previously, schools were limited not only to using soy as an additive, but the soy products could not amount to more than 30% of the final food product. Now soy can be l00% of the serving.

The Agriculture Department first proposed changing the regulation after school officials complained about the difficulty of meeting government limits on the amount of fat in school meals.

The new soy rule will affect all school lunchrooms and day care centers that offer federally-subsidized meals. The U.S. Agriculture Department spends about $6 billion annually on subsidizing school lunches. More than 26 million children receive free meals or can buy meals at a reduced rate under the program.

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