The US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry recently kicked off a hearing to review one of US dairy’s most anticipated pieces of legislation – the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act.
Whole and 2% milk was banned from US schools back in 2012 due to higher saturated fat and calories as legislators sought to reduce obesity levels. Today, the USDA still requires milk served in schools to be fat-free or low-fat.
But the Whole Milk For Healthy Kids Act – versions of which are pending in both the House and the Senate – would lift restrictions on offering whole and reduced-fat milk in US schools.
Similar legislation passed the House in 2023 but was not taken up in the Senate.
If the 2025 proposals become law, it would likely be a boon for the US dairy industry, which already sells around 8% of fluid milk to schools at a cost of around $1bn per year.
The Act enjoys bipartisan support, but some dieticians and non-profits such as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine have highlighted that it flies in the face of current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which have helped reduce obesity among US children, including adolescents.
But the Guidelines are up for revision this year, with US health secretary Robert F Kennedy currently conducting ‘a line-by-line review’ of the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, released in 2024 by the Biden administration.
School meals key for kids' milk intake
The dairy foods group, as defined by USDA dietary guidance, is a major source of calcium and includes milk, cheese, yogurt, lactose-free milk, and fortified soy milk. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–25 recommend individuals 2 years and older should consume 2–3 cups of dairy per day, depending on age and calorie level of dietary pattern.
Although no age group meets this recommendation, children come the closest, with school foods making an important contribution.
Source: ERS, Food Consumption and Nutrient Intakes Data Product Shines a Light on U.S. Diets
In his testimony to the Senate, Dr Keith Ayoob, associate professor emeritus, Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, said that the 2025 dietary guidelines committee found no association between substituting one for of dairy with another form of dairy on cardiovascular disease risk.
“And when looking at the science on milk’s effect on growth and risk of obesity in children, the DGAC identified some evidence that, ‘consumption of higher-fat dairy milk compared to lower-fat dairy milk by younger children may be associated with favorable growth and body composition, and lower risk of obesity during childhood’, Ayoob added.
“Saturated fat doesn’t exist in isolation in foods,” he explained.
“In dairy, it is bound to protein, occurring in a ‘dairy matrix’. In this form, the body appears to handle it differently.
Dairy foods that contain protein in this dairy matrix do not seem to produce the negative cardiometabolic effects that other saturated fats do; when they are in a protein-fat network that occurs in dairy foods like milk, yogurt, and cheese, they appear not to increase bad cholesterol and to lower the harmful portion of bad cholesterol.
“Can other foods lower bad cholesterol and reduce CVD risk? Absolutely, but they’re not able to provide the 13 essential nutrients in milk.”
The Committee is chaired by John Boozman, the senior senator from Arkansas since 2011. In December 2024, he was among six lawmakers recognized by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) for supporting policies that advance the US dairy sector.
In his opening remarks during the committee hearing, Boozman suggested that amending school milk rules would help reduce food waste – with an estimated 45 million gallons of milk thrown out every year (that’s about 3.2 gallons per day), according to WWF.
“School food service directors work tirelessly to meet nutrition standards, stay within tight budgets, and determine what students will actually consume,” Boozman said. “There’s no point in commending ourselves for the nutritious value of school lunches if they wind up in the trashcan.”
Consumption has also declined, according to other experts who testified. Senator Roger Marshall pointed out that milk consumption has declined since whole and 2% options were removed from schools – though milk consumption among Gen Z is 20% lower compared to other generations
Krista Byler, district food service director for Union City Area School District in Pennsylvania, added that “the amount of waste that we were throwing away each day was disheartening”. “With the new legislation in place, my dairy orders also greatly declined.”
IDFA as well as the National Milk Producers Federation have both welcomed the support for the bill from US lawmakers.
NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud said: “We know that Americans are under-consuming dairy products, and as we heard today, students have said they want the milk they are familiar with and that they find satisfying. For many students, that’s whole milk.”
Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the IDFA, added: “Whole and 2% milk provide kids with 13 essential nutrients and high-quality protein critical for growth, development, healthy immune function, and overall wellness. It’s time for Congress to pass the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and bring whole and 2% milk back to schools.”
