Added sugar reductions by school milk processors removed 2.7 billion grams of sugar between 2023-2024.

As National School Lunch Week begins, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) reports that its Healthy School Milk Commitment is responsible for reducing added sugar levels by 10% in flavored school milk between the 2023 and 2024 school years. The Commitment was launched in April 2023 by 37 school milk processors representing approximately 95% of the school milk volume in the United States. Since that time, added sugar in flavored school milk, such as chocolate milk, has declined from 8.2 grams per serving to 7.4 grams per serving. In the past year alone, school milk processors have removed 2.7 billion grams of added sugar, equal to 5.9 million pounds.

IDFA’s Healthy School Milk Commitment is a pledge by 37 school milk processors to provide healthy, nutritious school milk options with no more than 10 grams of added sugar per 8 fluid ounce serving, consistent with school meal nutrition guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In fact, the IDFA Commitment was launched 13 months before USDA finalized their updated school nutrition standards. USDA’s school meal programs including lunch and breakfast serve 30 million children every day. The Commitment was expanded in late 2023 to include USDA’s Summer Food Service Program, a program that provides healthy meals and snacks to up to 3.2 million low-income children and teens during the summer months when schools are out of session. The overall effort was recognized by the White House in February 2024 as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

“These results demonstrate how America’s school milk processors continue to find ways to ensure children enjoy milk’s 13 essential nutrients in a product they love,” said Michael Dykes, president and CEO, IDFA. “The Healthy School Milk Commitment ensures all children, especially our most vulnerable, have access to nutritious milk options throughout the year with less added sugar and fewer calories. School milk is the leading source of calcium, vitamin D, and potassium for American children. IDFA and our nation’s school milk processors have stepped up in a big way to provide wholesome and healthy milk options to children all year around.”

According to surveys among school milk processors conducted by IDFA and Prime Consulting, the level of added sugars in flavored milk products has declined by 55% between 2006 and 2024, from 16.7 grams per 8-ounce serving in 2006 to 7.4 grams of added sugar per serving in 2024. Calories associated with flavored milk have also declined during that same period, from 166 to less than 125 calories per 8-ounce serving.

More than two-thirds of milk consumed by children in school today is flavored, such as chocolate and strawberry milk. Therefore, the reductions in sugar and calories achieved by IDFA’s Healthy School Milk Commitment are critical to improving child nutrition. School milk offers 13 essential nutrients, including high-quality protein, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D, and potassium, and the is the number one source of protein, vitamin D, calcium, and potassium for children ages 2-18. Nutrition science is clear that consumption of cow’s milk provides children with better bone health, a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, and a lower risk for cardiovascular disease. Children who drink flavored milk consume more milk and therefore have significantly higher intakes of vitamin D, calcium, potassium, and other nutrients.

For more information about the Healthy School Milk Commitment, visit healthyschoolmilk.org.

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports more than 3.2 million jobs that generate $49 billion in direct wages and $794 billion in overall economic impact. IDFA’s diverse membership ranges from multinational organizations to single-plant companies, from dairy companies and cooperatives to food retailers and suppliers, all on the cutting edge of innovation and sustainable business practices. Together, they represent most of the milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and cultured products, and dairy ingredients produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. Delicious, safe and nutritious, dairy foods offer unparalleled health and consumer benefits to people of all ages.

–International Dairy Foods Association

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