New Nutritional Practices Endorsed by Mansfield Board of Education

New recommendations regarding the school district’s food and nutritional practices were unanimously approved by the Thursday night.

Mansfield Public Schools Wellness Policy Advisory Council has been reviewing specific nutrition requests from parents. At the council's Feb. 28 meeting, officials formulated initiatives for the 2011-2012 school year. Some of the council's recommendations, such as the change to milk sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, are already in their experimental stages.

Back in December of 2010, students and faculty at helped Guida's Milk & Ice Cream test Healthy Moo™, a chocolate milk that contains no high-fructose corn syrup.

On Thursday night, Beth Gankofskie, director of the schools’ food service program, told the school board that Mansfield Middle School was the only school in the state to test the new line of flavored milks and that the trial “went over pretty well.”

Due to its success, Gankofskie said that the food service program will consider paring down the flavored milk selection for next year, and may offer Healthy Moo™ as the chocolate milk of choice.

that each 8-ounce serving of Healthy Moo™ has a 1 percent milk fat content, contains 20 grams of sucrose and provides 140 calories, making Healthy Moo™ a “healthy alternative” to other flavored milks. 

The wellness council is also reviewing the district’s pre-school snack program in order to provide students with the most nutritious options available.

Breakfast cereals are currently being limited to low-sugar options such as Raisin Bran™, and the schools are planning to eliminate food items such as whole-wheat toaster pastries that mimic Pop Tarts™.

The schools are also looking to expand their menus in order to accommodate the religious practices of some of their students, along with those who have food allergies, such as Celiac disease – an allergy to gluten.

Meanwhile, the schools are no longer considering a salad bar, after determining that it would pose sanitary issues and be too expensive to maintain.

Gankofskie said the council is exploring more options and will continue to assess additional food and nutritional practices that meet the necessary state and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements.