The old advertising slogan was “Milk: It does a body good,” and there are real health benefits to the dairy drink — as long as people can digest it.

But there are huge numbers of people worldwide — perhaps as many as 65% of the global population — who are lactose intolerant. And while that percentage is smaller in the U.S., it’s still more than 35%.

In fact, based on the demographics, as many as 15 million of the 30 million children who benefit from federal free school lunch programs likely are lactose intolerant to some degree.

The reason that matters is that, in order for a school to be repaid for that free federal lunch, they have to offer milk. To get an exception requires a note from a doctor or a parent.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., along with Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced the Freedom in School Cafeterias and Lunches Act, which would allow schools to offer something with the nutritional equivalent of dairy milk to students who aren’t able to drink milk.

Not only does it make it easier for families and students to make the right nutritional decisions without undue interference from bureaucracy, it also will reduce waste.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 40% of milk served in schools is thrown away, an estimated $400 million loss of tax dollars.

This is a basic, common sense idea that should be adopted without delay.

— JK