Junk Food Industry Mends Ways: Healthier Foods for US Schools.

October 7, 2006

Producers Agree to Send Healthier Foods to Schools By MARIAN BURROS Published: October 7, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/education/07snack.html?_r=1 & adxnnl=1 & oref=slogin & adxnnlx=1160229974-GdeCBu3NIN+ztzB/xoTHwA In an effort to fight the rise in childhood obesity, five of the country’s largest snack food producers said yesterday they

would start providing more nutritious foods to schools, replacing sugary, fat-laden products in vending machines and cafeterias. French fries, ice cream, candy, cupcakes and potato chips from the machines, lunch lines, school stores and even school fund-raising events could disappear under a voluntary agreement between the companies and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The plan, which may take effect at the beginning of the next school year, is the first nationwide effort to set strict nutrition guidelines for school vending machines. Because the guidelines are voluntary, critics say they will not be effective. Both the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a frequent critic of the food industry, and the School Nutrition Association want government regulation instead. “Our organization feels pretty strongly that we need some kind of nutrition guidance from the Department of Agriculture,” said Janey Thornton, president of the nutrition association. Dr. Carlos Camargo, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health was more positive. “I think it’s helpful for groups that have traditionally denied any connection between snack foods and obesity or health to be acknowledging now that there are links, and that moves the agenda forward,” Dr. Camargo said. A bill introduced in the Senate this year would require the Agriculture Department to set standards

for snack foods based on those that the Institute of Medicine is expected to issue by the end of the year. The agreement will be more difficult to implement than those announced in May between the three largest soft drink companies and the alliance, which is a partnership of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, in which companies agreed to replace sugary soft drinks with more healthful beverages. "Our ideal is not the

spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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