An agreement with food manufacturers sets new guidelines for snacks sold in schools. Campbell Soup Company, Dannon, Kraft Foods, Mars and PepsiCo reached the agreement with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation -- a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.
The food companies say they will invest in product reformulation and new product development, while encouraging broader support of the guidelines.
The new guidelines, which were developed in conjunction with nutrition experts at the American Heart Association, will apply to foods offered for sale in schools outside of the National School Lunch Program to students before, during and after the school day.
The guidelines cover foods and snacks, desserts, side items and treats sold throughout schools, including school vending machines, ala carte lines, school stores, snack carts and fundraisers.
"Ensuring that children have healthier food choices at school is another critical step in the fight against childhood obesity," said former President Clinton. "What we are setting in motion with these guidelines will dramatically change the kind of food that children have access to at school."
The new, science-based guidelines will provide kids with food and snack products that are lower in calories, reinforcing the nutrition lessons they learn at home and in the classroom about healthy, balanced diets.
Notably, the guidelines promote the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nutrient-rich foods, fat-free and low fat dairy foods and place limits on calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium.
These foods cover a wide range of choices, including everything from chips to chocolate, crackers to cookies, candy, ice cream, granola bars, nuts, soup and yogurt.
"Kids across America will benefit from today's agreement," said Raymond Gibbons, M.D., American Heart Association president. "Our goal is to point kids to foods that are healthier and that will contribute to a healthier lifestyle overall"
"By considering the waist line as well as the bottom line, these leaders in the food industry are taking a huge step to ensure good health of our children," said Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. "The fight against childhood obesity must be waged on many fronts and I commend these companies for making a positive impact on our children."
Campbell will promote the benefits of its products that are lower in calories, fat and sodium and will leverage its expertise with lower sodium natural sea salt to provide additional reduced sodium soup options in food service.
Dannon will reduce the sugar content of its Danimals yogurt cups for kids by 25 percent, even though the products already conform to the Guidelines before the reduction.
Kraft will add the Alliance's sodium and calorie caps to its current vending guidelines and extend them to include all of its competitive foods sold in schools.
Mars will create a new line of nutritious snack products that are formulated with the specific needs of children and teens in mind and that meet or exceed the Alliance guidelines.
In addition to its products like Baked Lay's that already qualify, PepsiCo will reformulate several products and also encourage schools, distributors and vending partners to offer products that meet the new Alliance guidelines.
Fifty four million students attend nearly 123,000 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide, making schools a natural place to promote and reinforce healthy habits in youth
These guidelines are the latest addition to the Healthy Schools Program and the Alliance's broad approach to combating childhood obesity. On May 3, 2006, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation announced a similar agreement with leading beverage companies to establish beverage guidelines for schools.
