Thank you for this opportunity to make my comments on the proposed Regulations Governing Nutritional Guidelines for Competitive Foods Sold in Virginia Public Schools. [8 VAC 20 - 740]

          In Culpeper, we have 8084 students and approximately 20% of our program revenue comes from a la carte sales.  Any state restrictions of a la carte items that can or can’t be sold in cafeterias are not acceptable and will result in a negative impact to my program. 

          The federal competitive foods regulation starts in July 2014 from the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) that was passed in 2010.  These rules mandate nutrition requirements for competitive foods and beverages for calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and portion sizes.  These rules apply not only to a la carte foods sold by school nutrition programs, but to all foods sold during the school day.  Having multiple standards to follow for the same agenda is confusing and redundant in my opinion.  My recommendation is to have one standard from the federal level for our competitive foods sold in our schools.  Thank you.

 Greg Beamer, Food Service Director, CCPS