Senators cleared the path Wednesday for a final vote on legislation to bolster the safety and nutritional value of school lunches, including provisions to improve training for cafe-teria workers and to alert schools more quickly about recalls of contaminated food.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 would commit an additional $4.5 billion to child-nutrition programs over the next 10 years and implement the most sweeping changes to those programs in decades. Among other things, the bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set new nutrition standards for all food served in schools, from lunchrooms to vending machines.

“This bill. .. puts us on the path to ending childhood hunger and addressing the epidemic of childhood obesity,” said Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which passed the bill unanimously and sent it to the full Senate for a vote later this year. The House has yet to act on its version of the legislation.

USA Today