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March 6, 2007-- Congress could move this year to restrict junk food sales in public schools as lawmakers search for ways to make a dent in the nation’s obesity problem.
For years, proposals have circulated that would give the federal government the power to regulate the food sold from school vending machines and a la carte counters. Those proposals have gone nowhere, though it appears that growing bipartisan support for restrictions could give the policy new life.
The federal government already regulates the nutritional content of breakfasts and lunches served in public school cafeterias. But states and school districts vary widely in controlling vending machines, which often carry a wide range of snacks and drinks laden with calories and fat.
"The federal government has done little, far too little in my opinion, to set basic nutrition standards for foods that are sold in our schools," says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Agriculture Committee and author of a bill seeking tighter junk food rules.
Harkin’s long-stalled bill could soon be revived. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has jurisdiction over school lunch programs, and Congress is set to reauthorize a five-year farm policy bill this year.
There are also signs of growing agreement among Republicans and Democrats that new regulations are warranted.
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., says evidence of an obesity epidemic among American teens is "incontrovertible."
He told a Senate hearing on school nutrition that he supports Washington setting guidelines for the quality of food sold to kids from vending machines and snack counters.
"I’m convinced that we need to have national standards for what is occurring in the hallway," Lugar says.
Some industry groups are trying to convince Congress not to move ahead with regulations. Soft drink makers struck a deal in May with health groups and the William J. Clinton Foundation to phase sugared and high-fat drinks out of public school sales by 2009.
The guidelines limit elementary school sales to water, low-fat and nonfat milk, and 100% juice beverages. Middle and high school students would be allowed to buy sports drinks with up to 100 calories per container. Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, pointed to the deal as an alternative to stricter federal rules.
"Full-caloried carbonated soft drinks and fruit drinks will no longer be available in schools," she says.
But groups representing food manufacturers have backed off their previously staunch opposition to school junk-food restrictions.
Companies would not try to block regulations that treated high schools more loosely than elementary schools, suggests Alison Krester, the senior nutrition and health policy director at the Grocery Manufacturers of America/Food Products Association.
"Things should be different for elementary students vs. middle and high school. They get greater responsibility as they get older, and that should be reflected," she tells WebMD.
Some nutrition experts warn that the soft drink companies won’t be forced to honor the voluntary deal brokered by former President Bill Clinton’s foundation.
Soft drink manufacturers are already pressuring some school districts to let sugared drinks back into schools or face breach of contract fines, says Mary Lou Hennrich, executive director of the Community Health Partnership in Portland, Ore.
Neely says her industry would honor the deal.
"I can assure you, the beverage industry is working hard to implement these guidelines. Our policy is indeed national policy," she says.
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