The main trade group representing Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., and other beverage makers has agreed to support proposed legislation that would establish the first update to federal standards in about three decades on the sale of drinks and snacks in the nation’s schools. Under the proposed legislation, sales of sports drinks would be limited to athletic areas in high schools. Elsewhere in high schools, only bottled water, milk, juice or other drinks containing at most 25 calories for every eight ounces would be allowed. The soft-drink makers would have five years from the time the farm bill becomes law to make the changes.
A joint amendment to the Senate farm bill that Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), plan to introduce in the coming days outlines nutrition standards for sales of beverages and snacks in vending machines, school stores and other venues.
The proposed legislation goes beyond voluntary guidelines that soda makers adopted in May 2006 under an agreement with an antichildhood-obesity alliance of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association to eliminate sales of sugared sodas to schools by the 2009-2010 school year. The industry’s voluntary guidelines allowed sports drinks to be sold throughout high schools, and capped calories on caloric beverages aside from milk and juice at 66 calories for every eight ounces.
Support for the amendment represents an about-face from years ago for the beverage industry, which fought state and federal legislation limiting school beverage sales. Now, industry representatives say they see federal legislation as helpful to enforce limits that they have for the most part already agreed to adopt. “We think this makes sense,” said a spokesman for the American Beverage Association, calling the proposed legislation “a more comprehensive approach.”