Guidelines Call for Less Soda in
Schools;
Industry urges companies to sell water,
fruit juices, sports drinks,
Washington Times [8/18/05]
The
soft-drink industry yesterday released guidelines that encourage
beverage makers to market fewer calorie-laden carbonated drinks in U.S.
schools.
The voluntary policies,
established by the American Beverage Association, call for the removal
of all soda from elementary schools and reduced soda sales in middle
and high schools.
The association is urging bottling and
soda companies to sell more
bottled water, sports drinks and 100 percent fruit juices.
The
policies come after years of criticism from trial lawyers and public
health advocates that easy access to soda in school vending machines
has contributed to the nation's rising childhood obesity rate.
About
16 percent of American children, ages 6 to 19, are overweight,
according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
"We are responding to
what parents have said is an appropriate food environment for younger
children while they are in school," said Susan Neely, president and
chief executive for the Washington trade group.
The
new guidelines were approved unanimously by the group's board of
directors, which includes 20 bottling companies that comprise 85
percent of the beverage school vending market, Ms. Neely said.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi officials said they support the move.
Soft-drink
manufacturers may prosper from the rules by marketing more of their
alternative brands instead of cola, which has lagged in sales in the
past year, said Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark LLC, a Santa Barbara,
Calif., food and beverage consulting firm. The industry standards could
protect soda manufacturers from childhood obesity-related lawsuits,
said Louise Ellingsworth, a class-action lawyer with St. Louis law firm
Bryan Cave LLP.
"Certainly going forward
there could be some retroactive cases on this matter, but then the
plaintiffs are only getting monetary relief. They would not be changing
the industry because the industry has already changed," she said.
George Washington University law
professor John Banzhaf
III, who for the past few years has led the trial lawyers group filing
obesity lawsuits, said the new policies will delay a lawsuit his team
was planning to file.
Mr. Banzhaf
would not name potential defendants, but said the suit addressed the
school soda contracts, which he called "Coke for kickbacks in schools."
"It
may be delayed and redrafted at this point, but I doubt we will abandon
it," he said, adding that the guidelines do not protect school boards
or soda companies from litigation.
The Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a Washington health
advocacy group that has worked with Mr. Banzhaf, said the industry
rules do not go far enough.
"It's
a good step for elementary schools, but it basically does nothing to
address the high schools," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director.
Under
the guidelines, highschool vending machines can sell regular and diet
soda in only half of the machines' slots. The remaining half must be
filled with drinks such as bottled water, fruit juices and sports
drinks.
Washington dietitian Lalita Kaul
said moderation and physical activity will need to coincide with the
modified vending machines to reduce obesity rates.
"Children
need to learn to consume these drinks within reason," she said, noting
that sports drinks and 100 percent juices can be high in calories and
sugar.