On November 12, the Massachusetts Public Health Council approved changes to the Massachusetts School Nutrition Standards for Competitive Foods and Beverages, and these revisions will become effective December 5, 2014. The amendments include adjusting some of the state standards to be more in line with the federal standards. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health will update Healthy Students, Healthy Schools: Guidance for Implementing the Massachusetts School Nutrition Standards for Competitive Foods and Beverages to reflect these revisions.
The John C. Stalker Institute offers three tools to help Massachusetts schools meet both the state and federal competitive food and beverage nutritional standards.
- The A-List is an up-to-date and ever-expanding list of vending and snack items that meets both the Massachusetts Nutrition Standards for Competitive Foods and Beverages in Public Schools and the USDA’s Smart Snacks nutritional standards, whichever is stricter.
- MassNETS helps schools determine if packaged items, not on The A-List, meet the nutritional standards.
- JSI Recipe Tool generates a nutrition facts panel for snack recipes served in the school cafeteria. Once analyzed, these recipes can be easily saved, shared and printed. This online tool helps schools to meet the requirement to make nutrition information available to students for non-packaged items served in the cafeteria.
Infographic by JSI Intern Audrey
Visit the School Nutrition Regulations and Standards page in the JSI Resource Center for more information about state and federal standards for foods sold in public schools.
