'No Flavored Milk' to Start in Summer School

The Washington Post, following up our revelation last week that D.C. Public Schools will discontinue serving flavored milk and sugary cereal, reports that school meals will be served without the usual chocolate and strawberry milk beginning next week.

Columnist Mike DeBonis further reports that schools will only be serving cereals with six grams of sugar or less. That would rule out nearly all of the cereals that the DCPS hired food service provider, Chartwells, has served in the past, such as Apple Jacks, Raisin Bran and Chocolate Mini-Wheats.

Parents for Better D.C. School Food have advocated that school meals could be made healthier overnight simply by eliminating sugar. We believe schools should stick with cereals containing five grams of sugar or less per one-ounce serving.

Kellogg's Apple Jacks contains nine grams of sugar per serving, compared to regular Cheerios, which contains only one gram. DeBonis quotes schools spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway as saying the schools will be testing a variety of low-sugar alternatives.