Hoard's Dairyman:
Whole milk is back. What now?
February 5, 2026
By Miquela Hanselman, Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs
Whole milk has made a splash recently in federal government policy. Years of effort by the National Milk Producers Federation to maintain dairy’s prominence in American diets and regain support for dairy products of all fat levels culminated in the Jan. 7 release of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans by the Department of Health and Human Services and USDA. One week later, President Donald Trump signed into law the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which allows schools to offer milk of any fat level for student meals.
The dietary guidelines are updated every five years and affect government policies in numerous ways, such as guiding what can be served in school meal programs. The latest guidelines emphasize consuming “whole, nutrient-dense foods,” which includes the continued recommendation of three servings of dairy per day for those consuming a 2,000-calorie diet, and explicitly endorsing full-fat dairy consumption — including whole milk — a marked departure from previous guidelines that only recommended low- and nonfat milk. Additionally, these guidelines take a more aggressive stance on limiting added sugars.
Now that the new dietary guidelines have been released and the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act is now a law, USDA is in charge of implementing these changes by applying them across federal nutrition programs. USDA has already released a memo detailing the implementation requirements for the National School Lunch Program, which will help school districts across the country as they make purchasing decisions for upcoming school years. But the National School Lunch Program is not the only program affected; the school breakfast as well as the Special Milk and the Child and Adult Care Food programs will also need updates about what type of milk can be offered.
This is where the federal rulemaking process comes into play. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are the official nutrition guidance for all federal food programs, and for some of these, such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the law explicitly requires periodic updates to maintain consistency with the DGA. To do this, USDA proposes new regulations, or rules, which the public can review and comment on before the rule is final. This multi-step process can be lengthy, which is why USDA and other agencies often publish guidance that people can use in the meantime.
So, yes. Whole milk is back, but it might be a little while longer before you see it back on student meal trays.
This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Feb. 5, 2026.
