What's happening
This bill requires New York school districts to provide nutritional facts and ingredient lists for all school meals in advance.
Why it matters
Empowers families to make informed decisions. about student meals—particularly important for those managing allergies, dietary restrictions, or specific health conditions.
Increases transparency and accountability. in school nutrition programs, potentially driving higher standards for meal quality and safety.
Requires timely updates if menus change. , ensuring that parents and guardians are alerted to last-minute ingredient or meal substitutions before food is served.
Could support broader health and nutrition education efforts. by making detailed information about school meals easily accessible to students and their caregivers.
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Who cares
School districts
Districts would have to provide nutritional facts and itemized ingredient lists on meal schedules or district websites before meals are served, and notify parents and guardians of schedule changes with updated meal information.
Parents and guardians of K–12 students
They would have access to meal nutrition and ingredient information in advance and receive notice when meal schedules change.
District nutrition advisory committees
When these committees help determine prospective meal schedules, those schedules would trigger the district’s disclosure requirements.
Headline styles
Show School Meal Ingredients
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
List School Meal Ingredients
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Linda Rosenthal
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7686
IN SENATE
February 6, 2020
Introduced by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school meal nutritional facts and ingredient lists be provided
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 918-a to read as follows:
§ 918-a. School meal nutritional facts and ingredient list. When a district or the district's nutrition advisory committee, if applicable, determines a prospective meal schedule for students in grades kindergarten through twelve, the district shall include on such prospective meal schedule or on the district website the nutritional facts for such meals and an itemized list of the ingredients used in each meal. The information required pursuant to this section shall be distributed or made available prior to the meal being served. If a district shall make any changes to the meal schedule for the students, then the district must notify the parents and guardians of the change, the new nutritional facts, and the itemized list of ingredients prior to the meal being served. The notification of change may be made electronically, on the district website or in any other manner as determined by the school district.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14066-03-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school meal nutritional facts and ingredient lists be provided
Purpose or general idea of bill
To ensure that parents and children are aware of the nutritional facts and ingredients that are in school meals.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends the education law by adding a new section 918-a, which directs school districts to provide nutritional facts for all school meals and an itemized list of the ingredients used in each meal.The information will be shared on the district website or on the meal schedule.
Section two provides the effective date.
Justification
Good nutrition is integral to living a healthy life. Eating healthy can help you reach and maintain a healthy weight and reduces ones chances of developing chronic disease like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Learning good nutritional habits can help children establish a founda- tion for healthy eating and nutritional knowledge that they can apply throughout their lifetime.
The USDA regulates the nutritional value of school meals, but does not require the disclosure of nutritional value or ingredients to parents. This non-disclosure presents several problems. Parents need to be aware of the nutritional value of the foods that their children are eating during the school day so that they may properly plan home meals. By knowing which components of a child's daily nutritional needs have been met during the school day, a parent can ensure that the child receives the unmet nutritional needs at home.
Also, it is important for parents to know the specific ingredients that make up the food that their children are eating. This is important for both the identification and management of food allergies. But even for students who do not have food allergy concerns, parents have the right to be informed about the ingredients that comprise the meals being offered at school. This will help parents in determining whether their child should buy a school lunch on any given day.
This piece of legislation aims to give students and parents a comprehen- sive nutritional facts and ingredients list without overburdening the school district. Schools will be permitted to post the information about nutritional values and ingredients in the meals they are offering on the district website, or to include this information with the meal plan that is sent home with their students. The information required pursuant to this section should be readily available from the vendors that provide the food services to the district. This bill also makes provision for substitutions of foods and ingredients that may be necessary by allowing the school to update this information as needed.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.