While the US Dietary Guidelines’ sodium targets are recommendations for US consumers, school districts have been following required sodium limits since 2014. Transitional sodium limits were put in place in July 2023 and final regulations, which were released in April 2024, will take effect in July 2027.

The problem with these limits is they are significantly lower than the meals that students eat elsewhere.

“Part of the challenge is that although the sodium reductions are in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, most Americans are not eating that way when they go out to eat and when they prepare their meals at home,” said Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokesperson, School Nutrition Association (SNA). “When students come to the cafeteria, they notice the difference in the healthy meals they’re served.”

An SNA survey of school meal directors found that virtually all of them had concerns about meeting the 2027 lower sodium targets, with more than three-quarters expressing serious concerns. 

“As they look to this next target, they are concerned: Will kids continue to accept these items if there are no further changes at home and out at restaurants?” Pratt-Heavner said.

Staff shortages and rising food costs are exacerbating the problem for school meal programs. The survey found that school meal directors said they would need further resources to produce meals with lower sodium, including more staff because they will need to rely on food made in the cafeterias as well as items they can purchase and serve with lower sodium. Schools are also facing new limits on added sugars.

Pratt-Heavner said they are hoping food companies can not only develop lower sodium products but that schools will have the resources to purchase them. However, proposals in Congress are looking at not only cutting funding but also requiring income verification on free and reduced-price school lunches, which would increase administrative costs for schools.

“Congress is currently considering cuts that would dramatically restrict the community eligibility provision (CEP), which is the federal program that allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer free meals to all students,” she said. “One proposal in the House Ways and Means committee would change the CEP eligibility threshold, cutting 24,000 schools from the program that serves 12 million students.”

This article is an excerpt from the April 2025 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Sodium Reduction, click here.