Non-diet sodas to be pulled from schools
Major beverage companies sign deal with anti-obesity advocates
NEW YORK - Tens of millions of students will no longer be able to buy non-diet sodas in the nation?s public schools under an agreement announced Wednesday between major beverage distributors and anti-obesity advocates.
The distributors, working with a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, also have agreed to sell only water, juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Clinton.
Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and the American Beverage Association have all signed onto the deal, Carson said, adding that the companies serve ?the vast majority of schools.? The American Beverage Association represents the majority of school vending bottlers.
?It?s a bold and sweeping step that industry and childhood obesity advocates have decided to take together,? Carson said.
A man who answered the phone at Cadbury Schweppes? London headquarters said no one was available for comment. Calls seeking comment from other distributors were not immediately returned early Wednesday.
Sporting events, plays also affected
Nearly 35 million students nationwide will be affected by the deal, The Alliance for a Healthier Generation said in a news release. The group, a collaboration between Clinton?s foundation and the American Heart Association, helped broker the deal.
Under the agreement, the distributors will not sell soda or diet soda to elementary and middle schools. Diet soda, diet and unsweetened teas, fitness water, sports drinks, flavored water and seltzers will be sold to high schools, the news release said.
?This is really the beginning of a major effort to modify childhood obesity at the level of the school systems,? said Robert H. Eckel, the president of the American Heart Association.
The agreement applies to beverages sold on school grounds during the regular and extended school day, Carson said. Sales during after-school activities such as clubs, yearbook, band and choir practice will be affected by the new regulations. But sales at events such as school plays, band concerts and sporting events, where adults make up a significant portion of the audience, won?t be affected, he said.
How quickly the changes take hold will depend in part on individual school districts? willingness to alter existing contracts, the release said. The companies will work to implement the changes at 75 percent of the nation?s public schools by the 2008-2009 school year, and at all schools a year later, the alliance said.
Many school districts around the country have already begun to replace soda and candy in vending machines with healthier items, and dozens of states have considered legislation on school nutrition this year.
The agreement follows an August decision by the American Beverage Association to adopt a policy limiting soft drinks in high schools to no more than 50 percent of the selections in vending machines. That recommendation was not binding.
Most elementary schools are already soda-free.
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