Expanding Fluid Milk Options in Child Nutrition Programs

Summary

This final rule with comment period ("final rule") expands fluid milk options by allowing schools and child and adult care providers participating in child nutrition programs to offer whole and reduced-fat milk to participants two years and older. This rule codifies milkfat requirements following enactment of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and supports the statutory requirements for meals to align with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. By removing previous fluid milkfatcontent restrictions, this deregulatory rule restores flexibility to program operators, allowing them to offer a greater variety of fluid milk options, including whole and reduced-fat milk, to meet the nutrition needs and preferences of the children and adults they serve.

Dates

Effective date: This rule is effective June 8, 2026.

Comment date: To be assured of consideration, comments on this final rule must be received on or before June 8, 2026.

Request for Comments

The Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, invites interested persons to submit written comments on this final rule. Comments may be submitted in writing by one of the following methods:

• Online (preferred): Go to Regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Send comments to School Meals Policy Division, Food and Nutrition Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314.

All written comments submitted in response to this final rule will be included in the record and will be made available to the public. Please be advised that the substance of the comments and the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be subject to public disclosure. FNS will make the written comments publicly available on the Internet via Regulations.gov.

Background

On Jan. 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) jointly released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030¹ (Dietary Guidelines). The Dietary Guidelines state that "dairy is an excellent source of protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals" and recommends including full-fat dairy as a part of a healthy diet. Specifically, the Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines highlight the importance of full-fat dairy to help children meet energy needs and support brain development during early and middle childhood.²

Additionally, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025³ (WMFHKA) (PL 119- 69), enacted on Jan. 14, 2026, amended the National School Lunch Act⁴ (NSLA) by expanding the fluid milk options that may be offered to meet the requirements for fluid milk provided in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) (42 USC 1758(a)(2)(A)). The WMFHKA specifically allows schools to offer whole and reduced-fat (2 percent) milk in addition to low-fat (1 percent) and fat-free options at school lunch. It also allows school food authorities (SFA) to exclude the saturated fat from fluid milk when calculating the weekly average saturated fat requirement at lunch. Additional provisions of this law are addressed in FNS guidance⁵ and will be codified in future rulemaking.

Through this rulemaking, USDA is updating program regulations to allow whole and reduced-fat milk to be offered to child nutrition program (CNP) participants ages two and up in the NSLP, School Breakfast Program (SBP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and Special Milk Program (SMP). This rule extends the saturated fat exclusion from weekly dietary specifications⁶ in NSLP to the SBP. Additionally, this rule expands the option to offer whole and reduced-fat milk in the NSLP afterschool snack service (NSLP afterschool snacks) and the preschool meal pattern for NSLP and SBP and clarifies that whole and reduced-fat milk may now be sold as a compliant beverage for competitive foods, commonly known as Smart Snacks in School (Smart Snacks).⁷

Milkfat Requirements for Child Nutrition Programs

Current Requirements

Under section 9 of the NSLA, schools are required to offer students a variety of fluid milk at lunches served under the NSLP (42 USC 1758(a)(2)(A)). Under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966,⁸ meals served as part of the SBP must meet the "minimum nutritional requirements prescribed by the Secretary"(42 USC 1773(e)(1)(A)). Additionally, section 9 of the NSLA requires that breakfasts served are "consistent with the goals of the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans" (42 USC 1758(f)(1)). Under section 17 of the NSLA, the CACFP must "provide milk in accordance with the most recent version of the Dietary Guidelines" (42 USC 1766(g)(4)(A)). There is no statutory language regarding the fat content of milk offered in the SMP.

Current regulations for the NSLP (7 CFR 210.10(d)(1)(i)), SBP (7 CFR 220.8(d)), CACFP (7 CFR 226.20(a)(1)), and SMP (7 CFR 215.7a(a)), state that whole and reduced-fat milk are not creditable for children 2 years and older and adult participants. Fluid milk requirements are as follows:

• Children 1 year old must be served unflavored whole milk.
• Children 2 through 5 years old must be served unflavored low-fat or unflavored fat-free milk.⁹
• Children 6 years old and older and adults must be served unflavored or flavored,¹⁰ low-fat or fat-free milk.

For NSLP (7 CFR 210.10(b)(2)(ii)) and SBP (7 CFR 220.8(b)(2)(ii)), current regulations require that the average saturated fat content of the meals offered to each age/grade group must be less than 10 percent of total calories. This includes saturated fat from fluid milk.

Current regulations for NSLP afterschool snacks (7 CFR 210.10(o)(2)(i), (3)(i), and (4)(i)) and preschool lunch and breakfast meal patterns (7 CFR 210.10(p) and 220.8(o)) require that milk offered at meals/snacks meet the requirements for the CACFP, under 7 CFR 226.20(a)(1). Current regulations for Smart Snacks (7 CFR 210.11(l)(1)(ii), (2)(ii), and (3)(ii)) require that milk offered as a competitive food meet the requirements for the NSLP, outlined in 7 CFR 210.10(d)(1).

Final Rule

CNP operators participating in NSLP (including NSLP afterschool snack, the preschool meal pattern, and Smart Snacks), SBP (including the preschool meal pattern), CACFP, and SMP may offer children 2 years and older and adult participants whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free fluid milk to meet fluid milk requirements in these programs. The updated fluid milk requirements for each age group are summarized below:

• Fluid milk served to children 1 year old must be unflavored whole milk;
• Fluid milk served to children 2 through 5 years old may be unflavored whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, or fat-free milk; and
• Fluid milk served to children 6 years and older and adult participants may be unflavored or flavored, whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, or fat-free milk.¹¹

SFAs participating in the NSLP and SBP may exclude the saturated fat from fluid milk when calculating the weekly average saturated fat requirement at lunch and breakfast.

Program operators are not required, but are encouraged, to make changes to menus under this provision. Program operators have discretion to decide which varieties of fluid milk to offer. For example, program operators may choose to offer unflavored, whole milk as an option to all program participants to align with recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines to consume full-fat dairy and less added sugars. The revised regulations under this rulemaking give menu planners more flexibility to offer fluid milk options that meet the dietary preferences of program participants and are compatible with product availability, cost considerations, and other local factors. Accordingly, this final rule amends 7 CFR 210.10(d)(1)(i), 7 CFR 215.7a(a), 7 CFR 220.8(d), and 7 CFR 226.20(a)(1) of the regulatory text.

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 210
Grant programs-education, Grant programs-health, Infants and children, Nutrition, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, School breakfast and lunch programs, Surplus agricultural commodities.

7 CFR 215
Food assistance programs, Grant programs-education, Grant programs-health, Infants and children, Milk

7 CFR Part 220
Grant programs-education, Grant programs-health, Infants and children, Nutrition, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, School breakfast and lunch programs.

7 CFR Part 226
Accounting, Aged, Day care, Food assistance programs, Grant programs, Grant programs-health, Individuals with disabilities, Infants and children, Intergovernmental relations, Loan programs, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Surplus agricultural commodities.

Accordingly, 7 CFR parts 210, 215, 220, and 226 are amended as follows in the FR Notice.

¹U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. Available at: https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA_508.pdf
² U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. Available at: https://cdn.realfood.gov/Scientific%20Report_508.pdf
³ Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 (PL 119-69). Available at: https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ69/PLAW-119publ69.pdf
⁴ Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10333/pdf/COMPS-10333.pdf
⁵ U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 - Implementation Requirements for the National School Lunch Program, Jan. 14, 2026. Available at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/wmfhka-implementation
⁶ Average saturated fat content of the meals offered to each age/grade group must be less than 10 percent of total calories (7 CFR 210.10(b)(2)(ii) and 220.8(b)(2)(ii)).
⁷ The Summer Food Service Program does not have limits for fat content for fluid milk and current requirements allow whole and reduced-fat milk. The Seamless Summer Option does not have meal pattern requirements in regulations but FNS guidance (SP 09-2017) states that this meal service aligns with the meal pattern established for NSLP and SBP, thus the updated requirements allow whole and reduced-fat milk.
⁸ Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS10328/pdf/COMPS-10328.pdf
⁹ Per FNS Guidance, children between the ages of 24 months to 25 months may be served unflavored whole or reduced-fat to help with the transition to low-fat and fat-free milk. Breastmilk may be served to a child of any age.
¹⁰ Flavored milk must contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces, or for flavored milk sold as competitive food for middle and high schools, 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces. Added sugar limit for flavored milk does not apply to CACFP.
¹¹ Statute requires schools have the option to offer flavored and unflavored fluid milk in the NSLP (42 USC 1758(a)(2)(A)(ii)).