Formulated Grain-Fruit Products: Proposed Restrictions on Use in School Breakfast Program Should Be Reevaluated

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed to prohibit using the two-component meal of formulated grain-fruit products (fortified pastries) and milk in the school breakfast program. Although grain-fruit products are not used widely or frequently, some schools find them to be popular, convenient, and less costly. The controversy over the proposal to withdraw authorization of the two-component breakfast centered on whether a breakfast of milk and a formulated grain-fruit product may be served to children in place of a three-component conventional breakfast of bread or cereal, fruit or juice or vegetables, and milk. In 1974, USDA authorized schools to use the two-component breakfast in which the formulated product replaces both the bread/cereal and fruit/juice/vegetable components. It was decided this would: (1) encourage more schools to enter the program, (2) provide a convenient, less costly breakfast, (3) add variety to school breakfasts, and (4) help eliminate plate-waste. USDA wants to ban the two-component breakfast because many nutritionists believe it has too much sugar and fat, may lack trace elements and other unknown nutrients, and may teach poor eating habits.