USDA Standard Could Make School Hamburgers Rare
Hamburgers and Sloppy Joes may be scarce in some school cafeterias this year because of the ripple effect of a new Department of Agriculture standard for the federal school lunch program.
At least two states have decided to forgo USDA beef altogether because of higher costs related to the tightening of the agency's beef-safety standards. And some districts are taking beef off their menus because USDA beef shipments won't arrive in time for them to plan their meals for the year— something most districts do well before students return to school in the fall.
In June, the USDA said it would more frequently test ground-beef products for its subsidized school meals program for salmonella bacteria and reject any beef that tested positive for the bacteria. The school meals program buys and delivers meats, fruits, and other commodities to schools year round. It served 26 million...
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