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BRICK OUTLINES NEW NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOL LUNCHES
By Catherine Snipe
This year, back to school means back to nutrition for the Brick Township school district.
The Brick Board of Education approved a policy this summer that removes items from the school's menu that fail to meet nutritional standards.
The district acted to ensure the food choices did not offer substances too sugary or laden with fat, officials said. So, a cafeteria lunch menu is revamped with high trans-fat foods reduced from the line, for example.
The BOE "recognizes that child and adolescent obesity has reached epidemic levels in the United States and that poor diet combined with the lack of physical activity negatively impacts on students' health, and their ability and motivation to learn," the policy states.
The policy spells out at what nutritional value the entrees, beverages and desserts venture into unhealthy territory. If the first ingredient in the food or beverage is sugar, it's off-limits. No more candy, regular or diet soda, either. Whole milk is too fatty and has been removed, according to the policy.
Also, the rules state food shall have no more than two grams of saturated fat and eight grams of total fat (excluding nuts and seeds).
In some cases, the nutrition standards are specific whether the food is offered to elementary or high school students.
For example, the policy outlines 100 percent of beverages must be either water, milk or 100-percent juice in the elementary schools. But in older grades, 60 percent of all beverages offered must be three types of drinks, which allows for ice teas or blended juices.
Beginning January 1, all food manufacturers were required by the U.S. to add labeling that reports the trans fat content of foods. The school board policy urges the district's food buyers and other vendors to limit offerings of foods that contain trans fat, a substance linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease. The policy is seeking a reduction in the number of foods available containing any amount of trans fat.
In addition, vending machines will be set with a timer so they only work after school hours, according to the policy.
The schools already comply with the U.S. and N.J. Departments of Agriculture Child Nutrition Program, but the policy adds another layer of rules spelling out how nutritious food available at the schools should be. That includes foods served on the lunch line, but also sold in a vending machine or given as a free promotion. The school's stores and fundraisers operating during the school day must also comply, according to the policy.
Students with a packed lunch are not outside the guidelines, though, because according to the policy each student will have nutritional information mailed home. The mailings urge those packing a lunch to pick healthy choices from a list of suggested foods, in hopes healthy choices will also start at home.
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