U.S. court strikes down President Trump’s rollback of school nutrition rules

According to The New York Times, a federal court has struck down a 2018 Agriculture Department rule that reversed nutrition standards for sodium and whole grains in school meal programs. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland vacated the rule, concluding that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the 2018 rule differed significantly from the administration’s 2017 interim rule setting up the final standards.

“The court concludes that the rule is not inconsistent with federal law, it does not reflect unexplained and arbitrary decision making, it does not represent an unacknowledged and unexplained change in position, and the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] appropriately responded to public comments,” ruled U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel. “The court does find, however, that the final rule is not a logical outgrowth of the interim final rule, so it must be vacated.”

The sodium and whole-grain standards were the first of a series of efforts by the Trump administration to roll back school nutrition rules implemented by the Obama administration. Another proposed rule would weaken nutrition standards for fruits and vegetables in school and summer meal programs.

In the case of sodium, the Obama administration finalized a rule in January 2012 that established three targets to steadily lower sodium levels in school meals until the school year 2022–2023, when meals would have low enough sodium levels to comply with 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The 2012 rule also required that 50% of grain products offered in school meals be rich in whole grains by the 2013–2014 school year to comply with the 2010 guidelines. After the 2014–2015 school year, all grain products had to be whole-grain rich. Schools, however, could apply for waivers as long as they still met the 50% requirement.

In 2017, the Trump administration published an interim final rule that extended the time schools had to reduce sodium levels and allowed states to continue granting waivers for the whole grain requirements as long as they could demonstrate hardship in complying. It also gave providers the option to offer flavored low-fat milk.

But when the administration published its final rule in December 2018, it differed significantly from the interim rule. The final rule reset the requirements so that only half of the weekly grains served must be rich in whole grains, ending the need for waivers, and it eliminated the third sodium target.