The United States Department of Agriculture has decided to remove Lunchables from U.S. schools’ National Free Lunch Program.

You might remember having a Lunchable or two in your day. They are still around and thriving on supermarket shelves. But they will no longer be available for children in U.S. schools who get free lunch every day.

Last year, the USDA introduced Lunchables to the NFLP, but it got immediate pushback. A lot of people were not pleased with the offering of processed meat and extra sodium that is contained in a Lunchable.

This move to bring the Lunchable to American schools might have flown under the radar a few decades ago, but in today’s society, people have something to say about it.

People felt that the USDA was offering a lower quality, higher sodium and carcinogenic meat option to those who couldn’t afford a lunch and that the NFLP was taking the easy way out.

There are some people who don’t believe that what is being served for free matters as much as the fact that it is free.

On the opposite side, there are people who feel like we need to be taking care of those kids who are less fortunate and should provide a nice hot meal for them daily.

Kraft-Heinz decided to take neither of those roads in reacting to the situation. Their official statement goes in the other direction. They blamed the removal of Lunchables from U.S. schools on lack of demand.

“Last year, we brought two NSLP compliant Lunchables options to schools that had increased protein. While many school administrators were excited to have these options, the demand did not meet our targets. This happens occasionally across our broad portfolio, especially as we explore new sales channels. Lunchables products are not available in schools this year and we hope to revisit at a future date.”

It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you are on, it won’t help bring back the Lunchables to the NFLP in American schools for the 2024-2025 school year.