California bans sale of soft drinks in schools beginning in 2005

Food & Drink Weekly, June 9, 2003

The California state Senate voted May 30 to phase out the serving of soft drinks to students at California schools starting in 2005. The bill would ban the sale of carbonated drinks to elementary and middle school students beginning Sept. 1, 2005. The prohibition would kick in for high schools Sept. 1, 2006. In place of soda, schools could sell students milk, bottled water, fruit juice and fruit-based drinks that are at least half fruit juice and have no added sweeteners. Middle schools and high schools could also offer students sports drinks that replace electrolytes and contain no more than 42 grams of added sweeteners per 20 ounces of fluid. The bill would allow the sale of sodas more than a half hour before or after school at, for instance, school athletic events or to help student fund-raising campaigns.

Current law includes a ban on sodas at elementary and middle schools that's scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, but that prohibition won't kick in unless the schools get additional state funding for nutrition programs, money that isn't likely to be appropriated because of the state's budget crisis.

But a spokesman for the soft drink industry, Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Nevada Soft Drink Association, said sodas shouldn't be singled out for blame for overweight students. "It's a much bigger problem," he said. "It's an issue of moderation in diet and appropriate diet and the need for physical activity."