Soft drink industry agrees to limit sales in public schools

Food & Drink Weekly, August 22, 2005

The soft drink industry last week unveiled a new set of guidelines to limit the amount of soda that is marketed to kids in schools through vending machines. Susan Neely, the president of the American Beverage Association, the industry's main trade group, announced that major players in the business have signed on to a set of voluntary limits that would keep all soda and juice drinks out of elementary schools while curtailing the sales of certain beverages in middle and high schools.

Said Neely: "Childhood obesity is a real problem. The individual companies have been doing several things to be part of the solution and there was an agreement among all of our leadership that we needed to take another step and take it as an industry."

The guidelines call for vending machines in elementary schools to dispense only water or 100 percent fruit juice. For middle schools, from sixth grade to eighth grade, vending machines will sell no full-calorie soft drinks during school hours, or any full-calorie juice drinks containing 5 percent real fruit juice or less. In high schools, the industry is asking that no more than 50 percent of a vending machine's options be soft drinks.

In a statement issued yesterday, Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, said: "Parents tell us they'd like help in determining what products are sold in schools, and we're listening. We've been working diligently to introduce new, healthier offerings that give schools a broader selection of better-for-you options than ever before. We're also providing incentives to our bottlers that will encourage compliance with the new policy. As an industry, we are part of the solution."

"The school environment is unique, and therefore requires a flexible approach," added John T. Cahill, chairman and CEO, The Pepsi Bottling Group. "This policy strives to be responsive to parents' feedback while continuing to offer a variety of refreshing beverage choices."

Coca-Cola Co. has said that it is not concerned about the restrictions A Coke spokesman said that the company does not see the restrictions having an impact on sales. "Our volume in schools is small," Dan Schafer told the news agency. "The fastest-growing products we have in school vending machines are Dasani bottled water and Powerade sports drinks," he added.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSP), however, has claimed that the guidelines do not go far enough, Reuters noted. "The industry surely hopes this voluntary half-step will forestall efforts to get soda out of all schools," nutrition policy director at CSP Margo Wootan told Reuters. "But we hope that Congress, states and school systems act to ensure that schools sell only healthful drinks and snacks to all children."