Relative to healthy school lunches

Reproduced from the official legislative record. Confirm the current text and status at the official source.

1 of 1 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 539 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _________________ PRESENTED BY: Michael S. Day _________________ To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled: The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: An Act relative to healthy school lunches. _______________ PETITION OF: NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED: Michael S. Day 31st Middlesex 1/17/2025 Natalie M. Blais 1st Franklin 2/24/2025 1 of 3 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 539 By Representative Day of Stoneham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 539) of Michael S. Day and Natalie M. Blais relative to nutrition in public schools. Education. [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION SEE HOUSE, NO. 451 OF 2023-2024.] The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court (2025-2026) _______________ An Act relative to healthy school lunches.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is 2 hereby amended by inserting after section 15ZZZZZZ, the following section:- 3 Section 15AAAAAAA.The governor shall annually issue a proclamation setting apart 4 March 21 as Massachusetts Child Nutrition Day and recommending that the day be observed in 5 an appropriate manner by the people. 6

SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after 7 section 99, the following new section:- 8 Section 100. (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure that the students of the 9 Commonwealth are appropriately nourished in order to support a healthier, livable and more 10 equitable future for all. 2 of 3 11 (b) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following 12 meanings:- 13 (i) food service management company is defined as a commercial enterprise or a 14 nonprofit organization which is or may be contracted with by the school food authority to 15 manage any aspect of the school food service 16 (ii) entrée is defined as the meat/meat alternate category within the USDA’s Federal 17 Nutrition Standards 18 (iii) Fiber-rich” is defined as an entrée item that contains at least 14 g of fiber per 19 1000kcal from whole food sources such as whole grains, legumes, beans, pulses, fruits, and 20 vegetables 21 (iv) “Reimbursable meal” is any meal that meets the United States Department of 22 Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch Program nutritional requirements for federal 23 reimbursement at the annual allotted rate of any of the following: (a) free lunch; (b) reduced- 24 price lunch; or (c) paid lunch 25 (v) “ultra-processed food” is defined as industrial formulations of food substances 26 never or rarely used in kitchens (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or interesterified 27 oils, and hydrolysed proteins), or classes of additives designed to make the final product 28 palatable, appealing, or preservable (such as flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, 29 emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, nitrates, nitrites, preservatives, and anti-foaming, 30 bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents) 3 of 3 31 (c) Any food service management company selling food to Massachusetts public schools 32 for our children to consume shall ensure that at least 50% of the entrées sold and served for lunch 33 within school hours in schools, school districts, or other entities over the course of each week are 34 healthy foods containing whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes and other fiber-rich proteins 35 as part of a reimbursable meal offering within the federal National School Lunch Program. 36 (d) No food service provider may sell or serve in Massachusetts public schools, school 37 districts, or other entities more than 20% of entrée items that meet one or more of the following: 38 qualify as ultra-processed; have a nutritional composition that includes more than 30 milligrams 39 of cholesterol more than 5% of the entrées’ total calories come from saturated fat as part of a 40 weekly reimbursable meal offering within the federal National School Lunch 41 (e) Each food service provider selling food to Massachusetts public schools for school 42 children to consume, shall keep itemized nutrition data that is made publicly available on a 43 monthly basis to demonstrate compliance with this statute. 44 (f) Each food service management company will have a phase in period of three years 45 following the initial date of their most recent contract with their respective school food authority 46 or by the first day of the school calendar year 2033-2034, whichever comes first.

Legislative data provided by LegiScan, licensed under CC BY 4.0.