School Lunch Politics Explained, Part 1

I'm sure I've brought it up before, but there's a big bill going through Congress now. It's called the Child Nutrition Reauthorization and they only pass it once every 5 years. So if we want to get stuff fixed, NOW is the time. I plan to write a short series explaining some of the issues at hand.

Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value

Let's call them FMNV for short. Bad acronym, I know, but it will save me a lot of typing. This is an actual government definition. FMNV aren't allowed IN the cafeteria DURING lunch time. It's not much of a restriction, but it's even more pathetic once you learn what qualifies as a food of minimal nutritional value.

Quiz: Which of the following is a food of minimal nutritional value?

a) Potato chips b) French fries c) A marshmallow d) A candy bar

The answer is C) a marshmallow. The rest of that stuff? Well, they have SOME nutritional value. Not much. And none of them are exactly health foods. But despite all of the fat, salt, and/or sugar, the government thinks they are A-OK to serve to kids at school. But that marshmallow... no way. And that probably makes you wonder what makes a food considered of MINIMAL nutritional value, since the standards are obviously pretty lame and contrived. Basically, FMNV are made up of nothing but sugar. Here's the list:

(a) Foods of minimal nutritional value--Foods of minimal nutritional value are:

(1) Soda Water--A class of beverages made by absorbing carbon dioxide in potable water. The amount of carbon dioxide used is not less than that which will be absorbed by the beverage at a pressure of one atmosphere and at a temperature of 60 deg. F. It either contains no alcohol or only such alcohol, not in excess of 0.5 percent by weight of the finished beverage, as is contributed by the flavoring ingredient used. No product shall be excluded from this definition because it contains artificial sweeteners or discrete nutrients added to the food such as vitamins, minerals and protein.

(2) Water Ices--As defined by 21 CFR 135.160 Food and Drug Administration Regulations except that water ices which contain fruit or fruit juices are not included in this definition.

(3) Chewing Gum--Flavored products from natural or synthetic gums and other ingredients which form an insoluble mass for chewing.

(4) Certain Candies--Processed foods made predominantly from sweeteners or artificial sweeteners with a variety of minor ingredients which characterize the following types:

(i) Hard Candy--A product made predominantly from sugar (sucrose) and corn syrup which may be flavored and colored, is characterized by a hard, brittle texture, and includes such items as sour balls, fruit balls, candy sticks, lollipops, starlight mints, after dinner mints, sugar wafers, rock candy, cinnamon candies, breath mints, jaw breakers and cough drops.

(ii) Jellies and Gums--A mixture of carbohydrates which are combined to form a stable gelatinous system of jelly-like character, and are generally flavored and colored, and include gum drops, jelly beans, jellied and fruit-flavored slices.

(iii) Marshmallow Candies--An aerated confection composed as sugar, corn syrup, invert sugar, 20 percent water and gelatin or egg white to which flavors and colors may be added.

(iv) Fondant--A product consisting of microscopic-sized sugar crystals which are separated by thin film of sugar and/or invert sugar in solution such as candy corn, soft mints.

(v) Licorice--A product made predominantly from sugar and corn syrup which is flavored with an extract made from the licorice root.

(vi) Spun Candy--A product that is made from sugar that has been boiled at high temperature and spun at a high speed in a special machine.

(vii) Candy Coated Popcorn--Popcorn which is coated with a mixture made predominantly from sugar and corn syrup.

(i) Hard Candy--A product made predominantly from sugar (sucrose) and corn syrup which may be flavored and colored, is characterized by a hard, brittle texture, and includes such items as sour balls, fruit balls, candy sticks, lollipops, starlight mints, after dinner mints, sugar wafers, rock candy, cinnamon candies, breath mints, jaw breakers and cough drops.

(ii) Jellies and Gums--A mixture of carbohydrates which are combined to form a stable gelatinous system of jelly-like character, and are generally flavored and colored, and include gum drops, jelly beans, jellied and fruit-flavored slices.

(iii) Marshmallow Candies--An aerated confection composed as sugar, corn syrup, invert sugar, 20 percent water and gelatin or egg white to which flavors and colors may be added.

(iv) Fondant--A product consisting of microscopic-sized sugar crystals which are separated by thin film of sugar and/or invert sugar in solution such as candy corn, soft mints.

(v) Licorice--A product made predominantly from sugar and corn syrup which is flavored with an extract made from the licorice root.

(vi) Spun Candy--A product that is made from sugar that has been boiled at high temperature and spun at a high speed in a special machine.

(vii) Candy Coated Popcorn--Popcorn which is coated with a mixture made predominantly from sugar and corn syrup.

And honestly, I don't even know how the candy-coated popcorn made it onto the list. You'd think some clever popcorn lobbyist would have argued that it has some nutritional value by now.

In the last session of Congress (2007-2008), Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Woolsey (D-CA) introduced a bill (S.771 and H.R.1363, respectively) to update the standards of FMNV but it never passed. So one obvious thing we can and should write to our representatives and Senators about now is updating the foods of nutritional value list. Rather than asking them to list specific foods, we should ask them to pass a bill stating that the Institute of Medicine should update the list.

(Photo credit: klynslis on Flickr)