Texas kids may be craving greasy fast food, but at the schoolhouse this year they’ll have to settle for french fries that aren’t fried at all. And, if they want candy or other junk foods, they’ll have to bring it in their lunch boxes. In elementary, middle and high school, cafeterias won’t be allowed to provide it.

The stricter Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, phased in over the last several years, will be in full effect when kids show up Monday. That means no more deep-fried anything, no more sodas and no more so-called “foods of minimal nutritional value.”

The big change this year is the elimination of deep-fat frying for any food prepared on the premises. In the Irving school district, for example, “fries” will instead be baked in 11 new “combi ovens.”

“Fries are still pretty popular,” said Michael Rosenberger, the district’s director of food services. “These ones that are baked have a little more of a potato taste to them. You don’t realize how much flavor oil can carry until you go from a deep-fried potato to an oven-baked potato.”

Fry servings at school cafeterias should be no bigger than 3 ounces. And, Rosenberger notes that if high school students want to buy a second serving, they must go to the back of the line before they can buy again. The state policy says kids can buy only one serving at a time.

The Legislature passed the new food policy because of concerns that too many Texas children are overweight. The state can’t control what they eat at home, but the idea is to limit the availability of unhealthy foods at school.

Source: khou.com