Non-diet sodas to be pulled from schools!
 

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.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12604166/

Great initiative I must say

:thumbsup
http://www.dimwitty.com/gallery/albu...Sumo%20kid.jpg
http://www.brodystevens.com/headlines/fat%20kid.jpg
http://rarshow.com/extra/pics/2/fatkid.jpg

Good. Cokes don't have a place in school. Hell when I went to school we didn't have any god damned coke machines. If i didn't get shit neither should today's kids.

That's good!! :thumbsup

This is great news.

...Diet soda, diet and unsweetened teas, fitness water, sports drinks, flavored water and seltzers will be sold to high schools...

diet soda is still really bad though. has high fructose syrup which is the reason why soda is bad for people. but its a step.

A step in the right direction. Now let's stop feeding them all that processed garbage while we're at it.

Not to mention Aspartame..

Getting the schools to use better cooking oil would be another great step.

It's about time. We are killing our kids with all the crap they eat.

thats a good thing

I can not begin to say how lame this whole thing is.

Yay less fat kids

fructose is SUGAR and diet sodas don't have any that's why they are DIET. I tis IMPOSSIBLE for a soda to have ZERO calories and contain fructose.

WTF are those real? :helpme :helpme :helpme :helpme

I think keeping it out of the elementary schools is good, jr. high is a maybe, but by high school we should hope that within the last 16 yrs or so, the parents might have instilled a sense of moderation when it comes to diet. By high school they should be able to have a choice. Aspartame or unneeded sugar to go with their Ritalin and fast food. :)

If you would elaborate, I would like to hear your view.

Sure Elementary schools should not have vending machines of ANY type.

Jr. High. Let there be vending machines or whatever. Damn kids will just walk to the AMPM or whatever anyways. And well many of the so called sports drinks and energy bars etc. are far worse than soda and candy.

Highschool - hahaha yeah ok thats gunna work.

How about teaching the kids some personal responsibility before they enter the real world where they will need to make choices.

Well when I was in High School in the mid 80's the only place in school that had vending machines was the teachers lounge. walk to the AMPM? yeah I guess if you wanted to get suspended. Going off campus would get you at least 2 weeks of in-school suspension.

We would get our shit before school and sell it to the other kids. Opps guess this would mean blackmarket soda and candy.

In my school you weren't allowed to buy soda at all in the school. In my senior year they brought in a Minute Maid machine and the parents went mental.

We had vending machines in my Jr. High. And they sold us personal pan pizzas in high school. Its the parents responsiblity to make sure their kids eat right not the schools. :2 cents:

I don't know what diet soda you are drinking, but I have two different ones in front of me that have absolutely NO high fructose corn syrup in them

you must be drinking that Faux Diet Coke they came out with last month

I am of the strong opinon that EVERYONE should be living off Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, and Dr Berries and Cream Dr. Pepper

two of the greatest diet drinks on the planet, you can't even tell the berries and cream is diet

This is a step in the right direction for sure.

A baby step. Still, I'm happy to see it.

what about caffiene? i think thats just as bad as the sugar.

too bad aspartame which is in 99% of all diet cokes is a known carcinogen, and leads to brain tumours and cancer. Oh well.

They trialed a machine like that in my senior year and it kept smoking too much so they took it out. It is also not the school's job to push the junk to the kids for profit either.

Thats great... now instead of diabeties, there will be cancer epidemies.

This was a long time coming. Glad to see they finally did something about.

i dont drink soda at ALL. i just assumed that soda (diet or non diet) would have hfs in it. am i wrong?

I'm glad they made some sort of change in the right direction. I think all soda should be removed, diet soda is just as bad, however this agreement was made between the "major beverage distributors and anti-obesity advocates". They wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot by removing all soda and leaving just flavored water and juices, we still need to see that Coca Cola logo to remind us to pick one up after school.... I think they need to take out all the fast-food they have in the highschools and jr. highs. I think having Taco Bell, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut on daily basis for lunch is worse than a can of Pepsi.

a lot of the new diet drinks that are coming out don't though, dr. pepper doesn't have it...and I know of a few others that don't also...there are a lot of options now for diet drink makers and they are starting to recognize that

We only use products with Splenda, here is a great list

mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_products.htm

i know diet dr pepper doesn't

here are the ingredients:
Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Artificial and Natural Flavoring, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Caffeine, Monosodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid And Polyethylene Glycol.[12. fl. oz]. *Very Low Sodium, 35 mg or less per 8 fl. oz. *Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.

umm diet sodas are worse they contains stuff that over time alters ur brain chemistry so young kids should never be given any sodas

Yes you are. HFS is a SUGAR which is a CARB and carbs have calories. Therefore you can't have HFS in a ZERO calorie drink. If diet sodas had HFS in them what would make them different than regular soda? It's the HFS that has ALL the calories people are trying to avoid.

the idea is great. THe world do not stop talking about fat people in US. They eat in McDonalds and drink coca.
The abolishment of vending Soda in schools is a great step. Now for the fast food...

ahhhh good to know. im tryin to get the bf to stop drinkin soda (hes addicted). so diet dr pepper would be ok then??

those that are on the site (check my sig) definetly had those automats in school.