Safe School Meals Act of 2024

The Safe School Meals Act of 2024 establishes new safety standards for school meals by requiring pesticide residues to be nondetectable within 5 years, setting maximum permissible levels for heavy metals (like lead and mercury), and banning PFAS, phthalates, lead, and bisphenols in food packaging. It creates a "clean supplier" certification system requiring annual testing of food products and packaging to ensure compliance with these new safety standards, with certification requirements taking effect 5 years after enactment. The bill provides $500 million for soil and water remediation research, grants to help food producers and schools meet new standards, and requires the USDA to increase funding for school meal programs to cover compliance costs. This bill directly affects schools participating in federal school meal programs, food producers, and suppliers who provide food to these schools.