II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2592 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the nutrition and 

health of schoolchildren by updating the definition of ‘‘food of minimal 

nutritional value’’ to conform to current nutrition science and to protect 

the Federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. BINGAMAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CHAFEE, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 

Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the 

nutrition and health of schoolchildren by updating the 

definition of ‘‘food of minimal nutritional value’’ to conform to current nutrition science and to protect the 

Federal investment in the national school lunch and 

breakfast programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Nutrition Pro5 motion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) for a school food service program to receive 

4 Federal reimbursements under the Child Nutrition 

5 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) or the Richard 

6 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 1751 et seq.), school meals served by that program 

8 must meet science-based nutritional standards estab9 lished by Congress and the Secretary of Agriculture; 

10 (2) foods sold individually outside the school 

11 meal programs (including foods sold in vending ma12 chines, a la carte or snack lines, school stores, and 

13 snack bars) are not required to meet comparable nu14 tritional standards; 

15 (3) in order to promote child nutrition and 

16 health, Congress— 

17 (A) has authorized the Secretary to estab18 lish nutritional standards in the school lunch19 room during meal time; and 

20 (B) since 1979, has prohibited the sale of 

21 food of minimal nutritional value, as defined by 

22 the Secretary, in areas where school meals are 

23 sold or eaten; 

24 (4) Federally-reimbursed school meals and child 

25 nutrition and health are undermined by the uneven 

26 authority of the Secretary to set nutritional standVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:23 Apr 08, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2592.IS S2592

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1 ards throughout the school campus and over the 

2 course of the school day; 

3 (5) since 1979, when the Secretary defined the 

4 term ‘‘food of minimal nutritional value’’ and pro5 mulgated regulations for the sale of those foods dur6 ing meal times, nutrition science has evolved and ex7 panded; 

8 (6) the current definition of ‘‘food of minimal 

9 nutritional value’’ is inconsistent with current knowl10 edge about nutrition and health; 

11 (7) because some children purchase foods other 

12 than balanced meals provided through the school 

13 lunch program established under the Richard B. 

14 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 

15 et seq.) and the school breakfast program estab16 lished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

17 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), the efforts of parents to en18 sure that their children consume healthful diets are 

19 undermined; 

20 (8) experts in nutrition science have found 

21 that— 

22 (A) since 1980, rates of obesity have dou23 bled in children and tripled in adolescents; 


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1 (B) only 2 percent of children eat a 

2 healthy diet that is consistent with Federal nu3 trition recommendations; 

4 (C) 3 out of 4 high school students do not 

5 eat the minimum recommended number of 

6 servings of fruits and vegetables each day; and 

7 (D) type 2 diabetes, which is primarily due 

8 to poor diet and physical inactivity, is rising 

9 rapidly in children; 

10 (9) in 1996, children aged 2 to 18 years con11 sumed an average of 118 more calories per day than 

12 similar children did in 1978, which is the equivalent 

13 of 12 pounds of weight gain annually, if not com14 pensated for through increased physical activity; and 

15 (10) according to the Surgeon General, the di16 rect and indirect costs of obesity in the United 

17 States are $117,000,000,000 per year. 

18 SEC. 3. FOOD OF MINIMAL NUTRITIONAL VALUE. 

19 Section 10 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

20 U.S.C. 1779) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking the section heading and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘(a) The Secretary’’ and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 10. REGULATIONS. 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) FOOD OF MINIMAL NUTRITIONAL VALUE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

6 days after the date of enactment of this para7 graph, the Secretary shall promulgate proposed 

8 regulations to revise the definition of ‘food of 

9 minimal nutritional value’ that is used to carry 

10 out this Act and the Richard B. Russell Na11 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 

12 seq.). 

13 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—The revised defini14 tion of ‘food of minimal nutritional value’ shall 

15 apply to all foods sold— 

16 ‘‘(i) outside the school meal programs; 

17 ‘‘(ii) on the school campus; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) at any time during the school 

19 day. 

20 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.—In revising the 

21 definition, the Secretary shall consider— 

22 ‘‘(i) both the positive and negative 

23 contributions of nutrients, ingredients, and 

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1 rated fat, trans fat, sodium, and added 

2 sugars) to the diets of children; 

3 ‘‘(ii) evidence concerning the relation4 ship between consumption of certain nutri5 ents, ingredients, and foods to both pre6 venting and promoting the development of 

7 overweight, obesity, and other chronic ill8 nesses; 

9 ‘‘(iii) recommendations made by au10 thoritative scientific organizations con11 cerning appropriate nutritional standards 

12 for foods sold outside of the reimbursable 

13 meal programs in schools; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) special exemptions for school15 sponsored fundraisers (other than fund16 raising through vending machines, school 

17 stores, snack bars, a la carte sales, and 

18 any other exclusions determined by the 

19 Secretary), if the fundraisers are approved 

20 by the school and are infrequent within the 

21 school. 

22 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro25 vided in clause (ii), the proposed regulaVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:23 Apr 08, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2592.IS S2592

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1 tions shall take effect at the beginning of 

2 the school year following the date on which 

3 the regulations are finalized. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If the regulations 

5 are finalized on a date that is not more 

6 than 60 days before the beginning of the 

7 school year, the proposed regulations shall 

8 take effect at the beginning of the fol9 lowing school year. 

10 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO PROMULGATE.—If, on 

11 the date that is 1 year after the date of enact12 ment of this paragraph, the Secretary has not 

13 promulgated final regulations, the proposed reg14 ulations shall be considered to be final regula15 tions.’’. 

Æ 


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