H.R. 649: Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025

Introduced Jan 23, 2025118 cosponsors

Sponsor

Glenn Thompson

Republican · PA-15

Whole milk has been off the school lunch tray since 2012

4 min readLast updated September 20, 2026

Why it matters

Federal rules have limited school lunch milk to fat-free and low-fat since 2012. H.R. 649 would let schools pour whole milk again — flavored or unflavored, organic or not — and stop the fat in that milk from counting against the saturated-fat limit schools are graded on. It has 118 cosponsors, 38 of them Democrats.

H.R. 649 rewrites the milk section of the school lunch law. Schools could offer whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free milk, flavored or unflavored, organic or not, plus lactose-free milk. Whole milk and flavored whole milk, off the federal menu since 2012, would be back on the list of options a school can choose.

The quieter provision is the one that makes the first one work. Schools are measured against a cap on the average saturated fat in the meals they serve, and whole milk eats a large share of that budget. H.R. 649 says milk fat does not count toward that cap at all — so adding whole milk would not force a school to pull fat out of the rest of the tray to stay compliant.

Two guardrails follow. The Agriculture Secretary could not bar schools from offering any of the milk types the bill lists, which locks the change in against a future rule change. And USDA would have to stop participating schools from buying or serving milk produced by a China state-owned enterprise.

The bill keeps the existing right to a substitute for a student whose disability restricts their diet. A school provides it on receipt of a written statement identifying the disability and naming the substitute — and under this text that statement can come from a licensed physician, a parent, or a legal guardian.

Bill Progress

IntroducedJan 23

Committee

Pass House

Pass Senate

Signed

Law

Latest Action · Jun 5, 2025

1/4

Placed on House floor schedule, Calendar No. 111.

H.R. 649 Bill Summary

What H.R. 649 actually does.

Whole milk goes back on the list schools can offer

Schools in the lunch program could serve flavored and unflavored whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free fluid milk, organic or non-organic. Schools must still offer a variety of fluid milk; the bill widens what counts.

Milk fat stops counting against the meal fat limit

Fat in fluid milk would be excluded when schools are measured against the allowable average saturated fat content of a meal under federal meal standards.

Lactose-free milk is written into the law

Lactose-free fluid milk is named directly as a permitted option rather than left to regulation.

USDA loses the power to take these options away

The Agriculture Secretary could not prohibit a participating school from offering any of the milk types the bill lists.

A parent or guardian can sign the substitute note

For a student whose disability restricts their diet, the school provides a milk substitute on receipt of a written statement identifying the disability and specifying the substitute. The statement may come from a licensed physician, a parent, or a legal guardian.

Milk from Chinese state-owned producers is barred

USDA would have to prohibit participating schools from purchasing or offering milk produced by a China state-owned enterprise.

Who benefits from H.R. 649?

Kids who skip the carton

USDA counts about 28 million students eating a school lunch on a typical day. For the ones who leave the carton untouched, whole and flavored whole milk become options a school can put in front of them.

Families who buy whole milk at home

The cafeteria carton would no longer be limited to a fat level different from the one in your fridge.

Cafeteria directors working the fat budget

Taking milk fat out of the saturated-fat calculation removes the tradeoff between offering whole milk and keeping the rest of the menu inside the limit.

Dairy farmers

Whole milk carries a higher butterfat value than the fat-free and low-fat product schools buy now. The sponsor, Rep. Glenn Thompson, chairs the House Agriculture Committee and represents a rural Pennsylvania district.

Students with diet-restricting disabilities

The path to a substitute stays intact, and the written statement can come from a parent or guardian rather than requiring a physician.

Who is affected by H.R. 649?

Schools in the National School Lunch Program

Each school would decide whether to add the newly permitted milk, recalculate its menus under the changed fat math, collect substitute statements, and screen out milk covered by the sourcing ban.

USDA

The agency would lose discretion over which fluid milk schools may offer and would take on enforcement of the China sourcing restriction.

Public health and nutrition groups

Organizations that supported the 2012 standards have opposed loosening the milk rules, arguing the saturated-fat exclusion reaches beyond the milk choice itself.

Milk producers tied to Chinese state ownership

Their product would be excluded from schools participating in the federal lunch program.

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On the Record

What Congress Is Saying

H.R. 649 has come up 28 times in the Congressional Record so far.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 649, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, legislation to permit schools to provide whole milk at school lunches. School children throughout our country are unable to receive the health benefits and the nutrients that whole milk provides due to out- of-date regulations that limit the type of milk that students can drink at lunch. As a doctor, I know how important a diet that includes whole milk is to ensure that our Nation's kids have the building blocks to build strong bones, strong muscles, and strong brains.

John Joyce(R–PA)·Jun 3, 2025·House

H.R. 649 also appeared in 21 routine cosponsor filings.

HR649 Legislative Journey

3 actions

House: Committee Action

Jun 5, 2025

119-142

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-142.

House: Vote: 24-10

Feb 12, 2025

24-10

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 24 - 10.

House: Committee Action

Jan 23, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

About the Sponsor

Glenn Thompson

Republican, Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district · 17 years in Congress

Committees: Agriculture, Education and Workforce

View full profile →

Cosponsors (118)

No new cosponsors in 499 days — momentum stalled

This bill has 118 cosponsors: 38 Democrats, 80 Republicans, reflecting bipartisan support. Cosponsors represent 38 states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, and 35 more.

38Democrats80Republicans·38 statesBipartisan

Kim Schrier

Democrat · WA

Brad Finstad

Republican · MN

Angie Craig

Democrat · MN

Jill Tokuda

Democrat · HI

Scott Franklin

Republican · FL

Daniel Meuser

Republican · PA

Ron Estes

Republican · KS

Charles Fleischmann

Republican · TN

Mary Miller

Republican · IL

Kat Cammack

Republican · FL

Austin Scott

Republican · GA

Derrick Van Orden

Republican · WI

Cosponsor Coverage Map

Committee Sponsors

Education and Workforce Committee

16D20R1I

|19 signed18 not yet

19 of 37 committee members cosponsored

4 Republicans across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents

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H.R. 649 Quick Facts

Cosponsors

118

+113 more

Committee: Education and Workforce
Chamber: House
Policy: Agriculture and Food
Introduced: Jan 23, 2025

Placed on House floor schedule, Calendar No. 111.

Jun 5, 2025

Constituent Resources

Find your legislators on H.R. 649

Get notified when this bill moves

Official Sources

H.R. 649 on Congress.gov

Official bill page with text, status, cosponsors, and the full action history for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025.

Public Law 119-69 — Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025

The enacted public law on GovInfo, carrying the official text and enactment date of the bill.

USDA Implementation Requirements for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act

USDA guidance to school food authorities on the updated fluid milk requirements this law puts in place.

USDA Fluid Milk Requirements for School Meals

The federal rules governing which fluid milk types schools must and may offer at lunch.

USDA School Nutrition Standards: Milk

USDA breakdown of the milk standard schools are held to, the rule this bill rewrites.

7 CFR 210.10 — Meal requirements for lunches and requirements for afterschool snacks

The regulation naming the allowable average saturated fat content of a meal, the compliance calculation the bill exempts milk fat from.

42 U.S.C. 1758 — Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act

The U.S. Code section amended by the bill, now showing the updated fluid milk language in subsection (a)(2).

USDA National School Lunch Program

Program page for the federal school lunch program that sets the milk rules at issue.

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H.R. 649 Common Questions

Would H.R. 649 let schools serve whole milk again?

Yes. Schools in the federal lunch program could offer whole milk, flavored or unflavored, organic or not. Federal rules have limited school milk to fat-free and low-fat since 2012.

Why was whole milk taken out of school lunches?

USDA rules that took effect in 2012, following the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, limited schools to unflavored low-fat milk and fat-free milk. Whole milk has not been an allowed option since.

Does the bill change how schools count saturated fat?

Yes, and it is the provision that makes the rest work. Fat in fluid milk would not count toward the average saturated fat limit schools are measured against, so adding whole milk would not squeeze the rest of the menu.

Does H.R. 649 cover school breakfast too?

No. The bill amends the school lunch law and its text applies to schools participating in the school lunch program. Breakfast rules are set separately and are untouched.

Would schools have to serve whole milk?

No. The bill says schools may offer those options, not that they must. Every school would still have to offer a variety of fluid milk, but which types go in the cooler stays a local decision.

Can a parent write the note for a milk substitute?

Yes. For a student whose disability restricts their diet, the written statement may come from a licensed physician, a parent, or a legal guardian. It has to identify the disability and name the substitute.

Could USDA still ban whole milk in schools if this passes?

No. The bill says the Agriculture Secretary may not prohibit a participating school from offering the milk types it lists, which puts the change beyond a future USDA rulemaking.

Where does H.R. 649 stand right now?

The Education and Workforce Committee reported it 24-10 in February 2025 and it was placed on the Union Calendar in June 2025. It is waiting on House floor time, with 118 cosponsors from both parties.

Does H.R. 649 ban milk from Chinese state-owned companies?

Yes. USDA would have to prohibit schools in the lunch program from purchasing or offering milk produced by a China state-owned enterprise.

Based on H.R. 649 bill text

H.R. 649 Bill Text

PDF

“To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the school lunch program under such Act to serve whole milk.”

Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office