Healthier beverages now sold in schools
Since the Alliance for a Healthier Generation School Beverage Guidelines were approved in May 2006, there has been significant improvement in the nutritional quality of items sold in school vending machines.
Soft drink sales in schools are down 45 percent, and calories in beverages shipped to schools are down 41 percent since 2004.
Judith Thorman, senior vice president for government affairs at the American Beverage Association, and Ginny Erlich, national school district director for the alliance, gave an update on the initiative Saturday afternoon.
The voluntary guidelines were developed by the American Beverage Association in consultation with the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association as part of an overall strategy to reduce childhood obesity. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Scweppes signed on to the guidelines.
School districts that agree to the guidelines allow only bottled water, milk (fat-free and low-fat regular and flavored), and 100 percent juice to be sold in elementary schools during the school day and during after-school activities. Milk and juice are limited to eight-ounce portions with up to 150 calories.
The guidelines are the same for middle schools, except juice and milk can be sold in 10-ounce serving. High schools can sell a limited amount of no-calorie and low-calorie drinks, as well as water, juice, and milk.
When the alliance was launched, the goal was to have 75 percent of schools’ contracts with beverage vendors conform to the guidelines by the start of the 2008-09 school year and 100 percent by 2009-10.
With 35 percent of school contracts with bottlers already in compliance, the presenters said the industry is on track toward the goal of full compliance by 2009-2010.
According to a progress report issued by the American Beverage Association, the industry has made dramatic changes in response to the guidelines. Companies have trained their sales staffs on the guidelines, retrofitted vending machines, and repackaged their products.
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