Clinton strikes deal with snack food manufacturers to discourage unhealthy selections in school vending machines

Former President Clinton has struck a deal with five of the largest manufacturers of snacks foods to discourage schools from stocking vending machines with food high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt. Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Dannon, and PepsiCo Inc. have agreed to begin promoting snacks that meet new nutrition guidelines backed by the American Heart Association (AHA). While some school health advocates applaud the agreement as a good effort, others criticize it as toothless. "This is voluntary; they don't have to do it," President Clinton acknowledges. "But they recognize the challenge we face and they are helping us take the first step." Some of the snack manufacturers will reformulate some products or introduce new lines of healthier snacks for students, while others will urge schools to buy healthy, rather than cater to student cravings. Mr. Clinton believes the plan's success will depend in large part on the participation of schools, because they will continue to be free to buy whatever snack products they like.

Janey Thornton, president of the School Nutrition Association, applauds the agreement but say it shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for federal legislation enacting stronger health standards for school food. "It has to have some enforcement behind it," she says. "We have some pretty strict regulations here in Kentucky, but some states have none, and that's where I think the problem comes in." The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group, criticizes agreement because it lacks any enforcement provision if schools and vending machine companies decide to continue to purchase unhealthy snacks. However, the AHA food guidelines set under the agreement were more widely praised. They provide that snacks marketed to schools would get no more than 35% of their calories from fat and no more than 10% from saturated fat. In addition, they impose a limit of 35% for sugar content by weight. The agreement was the product of work by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation and AHA. This past May, the alliance announced an agreement with beverage industry leaders to sell only water, unsweetened juice, and low-fat and nonfat milk in elementary and middle schools.