The US Senate Agriculture Committee is advancing legal provisions to amend the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to expand student accessibility to non-dairy beverages in public schools. Advocacy organizations have hailed the changes, noting that lactose-intolerant students could now have nutritionally appropriate beverage options. If adopted, the new law would allow schools to offer nutritionally equivalent non-dairy milk to all students without requiring medical documentation. They would also require schools to provide a substitute for cow’s milk for any student whose parent submits a request based on a disability, which the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers to include lactose intolerance.
