Michelle Obama slams Trump's lunch change

Former first lady Michelle Obama has hit out at changes made by the Trump administration to her campaign for more nutritious lunches in US schools.

Former first lady Michelle Obama has slammed a move by the Trump administration to loosen rules for nutrition in school lunches, in a rare comment on the policies of her husband Barack's successor.

"Why don't you want our kids to have good food at school?" Obama asked at a health summit in Washington.

"What is wrong with you? And why is that a partisan issue?"

Obama, speaking on stage with former White House chef Sam Kass, also criticised a potential delay in the implementation of food nutrition label changes.

A delay in the rollout would keep families in the dark about what's in their food, she said.

"'Keep families ignorant' - that's all I'm hearing," Obama said.

"'You don't need to know what's in your food.'"

"You wanna talk about nanny state and government intervention?" she asked later.

"Well, 'You just buy the food and be quiet. You don't need to know what's in it.' That's essentially what a move like this is saying to you."

Friday's conversation between Obama and Kass covered topics of healthy food and exercise, especially for children - causes Obama championed during her time as first lady.

A year ago, the FDA unveiled a set of nutrition label changes, including listing added sugars, to be put in place by July 2018.

Industry groups have lobbied the Trump administration to delay that and other labelling changes, according to news reports.

The administration also recently delayed a rule requiring calories to be noted on menus at chain restaurants and grocery stores.


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Source: AAP



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