(NAFB) – The National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Associated submitted comments to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service regarding dairy.

The groups want the agency to improve nutrition security by updating school meal nutrition standards to encourage increased dairy consumption. That move would keep nutrition in line with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans report and with the leading health organizations. In 2020, the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report found that more than three-quarters of nine-to-13-year-olds are not meeting the recommended intake of dairy foods.

School milk consumption has declined in recent years, particularly after whole milk and low-fat flavored milk options got removed from school meals ten years ago.

“USDA can begin to reverse the trend through providing certainty for schools offering flavored milks, which provide the same micronutrients as white milk but with a flavor that many children prefer,” the groups say in their comments.