Senate Bill 228, introduced by Senator Cabral-Guevara and co-sponsored by several representatives, aims to enhance the nutritional standards of free or reduced-price meals provided by school boards and independent charter schools in Wisconsin. The bill specifically prohibits these educational institutions from serving meals that contain certain harmful ingredients, including brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, and red dye 3, as part of the National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program. However, the bill allows for private vendors to serve food containing these ingredients on school premises or during school-sponsored activities.

To implement this change, the bill creates a new statute, 118.073, which outlines the prohibited ingredients in school meals. Additionally, it amends statute 119.04 (1) to include the newly created section 118.073 among the applicable laws for school districts. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2027, providing time for schools to adjust their meal offerings in compliance with the new regulations.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 119.04(1), 119.04