Group seeks to ban processed meat at two SoCal school districts

LOS ANGELES — An advocacy group sued the Los Angeles school district for serving hot dogs and other processed meats to students, arguing that they increase the risk of cancer, it was announced Wednesday.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed the lawsuit Tuesday asking a court to ban the district from offering processed meats. It seeks the same ban for the Poway school district in San Diego County.

The suit, filed in San Diego County, says there is a “recognized association between eating processed meats ... and developing cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”

The Los Angeles district is the nation’s second-largest with more than 660,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The district lunch menu for April lists several processed meat items, including a “turkey pastrami croissandwich with cheese” and a turkey hot dog. Breakfasts can include beef sausage or turkey chorizo.

Serving such meats violates California’s Education Code, which requires school food to be of “highest quality” and provide the “greatest nutritional value possible,” according to the suit, which names both school districts and the California Department of Education.

A Los Angeles teacher and two parents of Poway district students joined the suit.

“As parents, we want what’s best for our kids,” parent Tracy Childs said in a statement in a Physicians Committee news release. “Providing healthy school meals is a no-brainer. Not only do healthful foods help students learn and focus in the classroom today, but they can protect our children’s future health.”

While the lawsuit names the state, the Physicians Committee focused on the two school districts because “we looked at menus throughout the state and found these menus to be particularly full of processed meat,” spokeswoman Laura Anderson said.