USDA Proposes to Broaden Protein Sources in Food Programs

March 13, 2000

USDA has proposed broadening the use of vegetable protein products used in school lunch and other feeding programs. The programs would be able to use 100% vegetable protein products instead of meat, fish and poultry. The proposal brought an angry response from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

"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."

The major changes proposed for the food programs are to rename "vegetable protein products" as "alternative protein products"; remove the limit on the amount of these products that can be used; eliminate the requirement that alternate protein products be specially fortified, and update the test used to determine protein quality.

USDA says these changes would give menu planners "more flexibility to incorporate these products into their menus along with the traditional protein sources of meat, poultry and seafood." The changes apply to the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program and Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Young said that government surveys showed more than half of school-aged children do not get enough zinc, and iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States, affecting 7.8 million adolescent girls and women of childbearing age and 700,000 children who are one to two years old.

"This is important," she said, "because deficiencies in both iron and zinc can decrease immunity and impair cognitive development and physical growth. These nutrients play a critical role in a child’s ability to learn."

A three-ounce service of beef contributes less than 10% of calories to a 2,000 calorie diet yet supplies more than 10% of the recommended daily value for protein, iron, zinc, niacin and vitamins B-12 and B-6, Young said.

"In some cases, school lunches are the most nutritious meals that a child may receive for the day," Young added. "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."

The proposal is available on the Internet at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/Governance/soyrule.pdf.