Johnathan Walker:School lunches are changing: USDA updates rules to limit added sugars for the first time

School lunches may begin to look different next year.

The Johnathan WalkerU.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday announced updated nutrition standards for school meals that will be gradually updated to include "less sugar and greater flexibility with menu planning" between Fall 2025 and Fall 2027.

“The new standards build on the great progress that school meals have made already and address remaining challenges - including reducing sugar in school breakfasts," said USDA's Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long in the news release.

"These updates also make it easier for schools to access locally sourced products, benefiting both schools and the local economy," Long concluded.

No more Lunchables:Lunchables shouldn’t be on school menus due to lead, sodium, Consumer Reports tells USDA

What do the updated USDA guidelines change?

Added sugars will be limited in school meals nationwide for the first time, according to the USDA, with small changes happening by Fall 2025 and full implementation by Fall 2027.

The agency said research shows these added sugars are most commonly found in typical school breakfast items. Child care operators will begin limiting added sugars − which are different from total sugars − in cereals and yogurts by Fall 2025.

Additionally, there will be a new limit on added sugars in flavored milk served at school breakfast and lunch by next fall, and schools will need to "slightly reduce" sodium content in their meals by Fall 2027.

Lunchables shouldn't be on school menus, Consumer Reports tells USDA

The updated guidelines from the USDA comes weeks after Consumer Reports told the agency that Lunchables shouldn't be on school lunch menus because they contain a troublingly high level of lead and sodium.

“We don’t think anybody should regularly eat these products, and they definitely shouldn’t be considered a healthy school lunch,” Eric Boring, a chemist at Consumer Reports who lead the testing, said in a statement.

The advocacy group said it tested 12 store-bought Lunchables products, made by Kraft Heinz and compared them to similar lunch and snack kits from other manufacturers.

Although none of the kits exceeded any legal or regulatory limit, the tests uncovered “relatively high levels of lead, cadmium and sodium” in the Lunchables kits, said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports.

Classified as a human carcinogen, cadmium has been linked to kidney and bone disease, as well as cancer, according to the World Health Organization.  However, because cadmium is a natural element present in the soil, it can't be altogether avoided.

As for lead, no safe level exists for children to consume, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes.

“There’s a lot to be concerned about in these kits,” Amy Keating, a registered dietitian at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. “They’re highly processed, and regularly eating processed meat, a main ingredient in many of these products, has been linked to increased risk of some cancers.”

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].