Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H539 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 539
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Michael S. Day
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to healthy school lunches.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Michael S. Day31st Middlesex1/17/2025Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin2/24/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 539
18	18	By Representative Day of Stoneham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 539) of
19	19	Michael S. Day and Natalie M. Blais relative to nutrition in public schools. Education.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE HOUSE, NO. 451 OF 2023-2024.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to healthy school lunches.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is
31	31	2hereby amended by inserting after section 15ZZZZZZ, the following section:-
32	32	3 Section 15AAAAAAA.The governor shall annually issue a proclamation setting apart
33	33	4March 21 as Massachusetts Child Nutrition Day and recommending that the day be observed in
34	34	5an appropriate manner by the people.
35	35	6 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after
36	36	7section 99, the following new section:-
37	37	8 Section 100. (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure that the students of the
38	38	9Commonwealth are appropriately nourished in order to support a healthier, livable and more
39	39	10equitable future for all. 2 of 3
40	40	11 (b) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following
41	41	12meanings:-
42	42	13 (i)food service management company is defined as a commercial enterprise or a
43	43	14nonprofit organization which is or may be contracted with by the school food authority to
44	44	15manage any aspect of the school food service
45	45	16 (ii)entrée is defined as the meat/meat alternate category within the USDA’s Federal
46	46	17Nutrition Standards
47	47	18 (iii)Fiber-rich” is defined as an entrée item that contains at least 14 g of fiber per
48	48	191000kcal from whole food sources such as whole grains, legumes, beans, pulses, fruits, and
49	49	20vegetables
50	50	21 (iv)“Reimbursable meal” is any meal that meets the United States Department of
51	51	22Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch Program nutritional requirements for federal
52	52	23reimbursement at the annual allotted rate of any of the following: (a) free lunch; (b) reduced-
53	53	24price lunch; or (c) paid lunch
54	54	25 (v) “ultra-processed food” is defined as industrial formulations of food substances
55	55	26never or rarely used in kitchens (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or interesterified
56	56	27oils, and hydrolysed proteins), or classes of additives designed to make the final product
57	57	28palatable, appealing, or preservable (such as flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers,
58	58	29emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, nitrates, nitrites, preservatives, and anti-foaming,
59	59	30bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents) 3 of 3
60	60	31 (c) Any food service management company selling food to Massachusetts public schools
61	61	32for our children to consume shall ensure that at least 50% of the entrées sold and served for lunch
62	62	33within school hours in schools, school districts, or other entities over the course of each week are
63	63	34healthy foods containing whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes and other fiber-rich proteins
64	64	35as part of a reimbursable meal offering within the federal National School Lunch Program.
65	65	36 (d) No food service provider may sell or serve in Massachusetts public schools, school
66	66	37districts, or other entities more than 20% of entrée items that meet one or more of the following:
67	67	38qualify as ultra-processed; have a nutritional composition that includes more than 30 milligrams
68	68	39of cholesterol more than 5% of the entrées’ total calories come from saturated fat as part of a
69	69	40weekly reimbursable meal offering within the federal National School Lunch
70	70	41 (e) Each food service provider selling food to Massachusetts public schools for school
71	71	42children to consume, shall keep itemized nutrition data that is made publicly available on a
72	72	43monthly basis to demonstrate compliance with this statute.
73	73	44 (f) Each food service management company will have a phase in period of three years
74	74	45following the initial date of their most recent contract with their respective school food authority
75	75	46or by the first day of the school calendar year 2033-2034, whichever comes first.