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ASA
Advocates Soymilk Reimbursement in School Lunch Program October 7, 2003... Saint Louis, Missouri... During today’s hearing, the 25,000 members of the American Soybean Association (ASA) asked the United States House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce to provide schools an option to offer students soymilk as part of a reimbursable meal in legislation to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. “Soy farmers, soy processors, and soyfood manufacturers have the goal of making our federal nutrition programs more effective in improving the nutritional intake and health of all children,” said ASA member Rob Joslin, a soybean producer from Sidney, Ohio. “We want schools to have the opportunity to offer soymilk to children receiving meals under federal child nutrition programs.” Joslin,
who also serves as the President of the Ohio Soybean Association,
today represented both the ASA and the Soyfoods Association of North
America (SANA), two organizations that care greatly about the
nutritional adequacy of the diets of students, and want Congress to
modify the current laws to assure that schools can easily provide
nutritional foods for all children regardless of their health,
cultural, or religious needs. “I want to make one
thing clear at the outset,” Joslin said. “Providing an option to
offer soymilk to meet the nutritional needs of children who do not
consume dairy products and thus are not served by the current federal
child nutrition programs, would complement, not replace cow’s milk
in the program.” SANA has recommended that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) set nutritional requirements for soymilk served in federal nutrition programs that establish 7 grams of protein, 300 milligrams of calcium, as well as 100 International Units (IU) of vitamin D and 500 IU of vitamin A per 8 ounce serving. Soymilk meeting these nutritional requirements would provide a nutritionally comparable product to cow’s milk currently offered in the federal nutrition programs. Many
children served by the school lunch and other child nutrition
programs, particularly those from minority populations, do not consume
cow’s milk due to lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is
prevalent in some population groups as early as two years of age.
Studies have shown lactose intolerance in up to 85 percent of
Asian-American, 72 percent of African-American, 70 percent of Native
American, 56 percent of Hispanic-American, and 21 percent of
Caucasian-American school aged youth. It is also estimated that up to
2.5 percent of infants and children are allergic to cow’s milk. For
these children, lactose-free cow’s milk is not an acceptable
alternative. “Let me
clarify that what we are asking for is to allow schools the option to
offer fortified soymilk as part of a reimbursable meal in USDA’s
child nutrition programs,” Joslin said. “The language drafted by
ASA and SANA is not a mandate for soymilk. It would simply allow
soymilk as a reimbursable option for schools serving children who do
not drink cow’s milk.” Under the current system, USDA does not reimburse schools for soymilk
unless the student provides a statement from a physician or other
recognized medical authority. For low income households going to a
health care professional may not be possible or affordable. The option
of utilizing school nurses is also impractical because many schools
have only part-time nurses on the premises. The involvement of the
medical community in providing documentation for children who do not
consume cow’s milk for non-medical cultural or religious reasons is
also inappropriate. --30-- For
more information contact: |
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