National School Lunch Program Aces Safety Test

The National School Lunch Program’s strict safety standards work, which is good news for millions of children who participate in the program daily, according to a new University of Connecticut study. The study, led by researchers from UConn and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), found that the food safety standards for ground beef supplied to the program are highly effective in keeping harmful bacteria out of school lunches nationwide. Researchers examined the National School Lunch Program because of its critical nature. “This program is very important for child nutrition policy and as an anti-poverty measure because it provides many children with healthy, safe food, on a regular basis,” says Bovay.Bovay and colleagues used a unique data set comprised of test results from mandatory food safety inspections for ground beef destined for the National School Lunch Program, and data from separate, random USDA inspections.