FNS Rule Riles Cattlemen

March 10, 2000

A proposed rule from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service expanding the use of vegetable proteins in food service programs is "irresponsible" and "puts the most at_risk children in further nutritional danger," according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

FNS has proposed that "vegetable protein products" as used in school lunch and breakfast programs as well as other food programs be changed to "alternate protein products" with no limit on the amount of the products that can be used.

The rule also would eliminate the requirement that alternate protein products be specially fortified, giving menu planners "more flexibility to incorporate these products into their menus along with the traditional protein sources of meat, poultry and seafood."

"This rule is as misguided as calling ketchup a vegetable," said Mary K. Young, NCBA executive director of nutrition. "Soy is no nutritional substitute for beef." To allow 100% vegetable protein products in place of meat, fish and poultry moves the programs away from the goal of a well balanced diet, she adds.

Young said government surveys show more than half of school_aged children are not getting enough zinc, and there are reports that iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the nation, affecting 7.8 million adolescent girls and women of childbearing age as well as 700,000 children one to two years of age.

A three_ounce serving of beef, says Young, supplies more than 10% of the recommended daily value for protein, iron, zinc, niacin and vitamins B_12 and B_6.

Before this rule, meat dishes in school lunch programs were allowed to be only 30% vegetable protein. "In some cases, school lunches are the most nutritious meals that a child may receive for the day," says Young. "In such a case, that child may not be getting the proper foods to substitute for the nutrients provided in meat. The rule could compromise the nutritional integrity of USDA's feeding programs and may result in unintended adverse effects on children's health."