Apr 7, 2007

Congress Weighs Crackdown on Junk Food in Schools

A major battle may be in the offing, as food and beverage manufacturers work to keep their products off a new junk food list USDA will be preparing if proposed legislation becomes law. Foods defined as junk wouldn’t be allowed to be sold on school grounds across the nation.

On April 5, bills were introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that, if passed, would become the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act.

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, spoke for a bipartisan coalition that introduced the legislation to eliminate junk food from schools.

The law would direct USDA to update 30-year-old federal nutrition standards regulating snack foods that can be sold in school cafeterias alongside regular school meals, and would extend those standards to the entire school grounds, including vending machines and school stores. The law would apply to schools that receive federal subsidies for school foodservice programs – and that’s virtually all schools.

Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I., cosponsored the Senate measure.

The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., and Nancy Johnson and Chris Shays, R-Conn.

The proposal has been endorsed by the American Medical Association, the national Parent Teacher Association, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the School Nutrition Association, the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, children’s health advocacy organizations and more than 80 others.

The United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association also endorsed it. United’s vice president for nutrition and health, Lorelei DiSogra, said the legislation would have a “huge upside” for fruits and vegetables, which are already making inroads in schools under the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Harkin sponsored as part of the 2002 Farm Bill.

Harkin, in a prepared statement, said: “Many American kids are at school for two meals a day. But instead of a nutritious school breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, they are enticed to eat Cheetos and a Snickers bar from the vending machines in the hallway.

“Junk food sales in schools are out of control. It undercuts our investment in school meal programs and steers kids toward a future of obesity and diet-related disease. Congress cannot stand idly by while our kids are preyed upon by junk-food marketers.”

The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity said that sale of low-nutrition foods in schools undermines parents’ ability to help their children eat healthy foods and undermines educators’ efforts to teach nutrition.

In 1979, USDA defined “foods of minimal nutritional value” and restricted sale of those foods in the school cafeteria during mealtimes. Since then, nutrition science has rendered those standards obsolete, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). And now, food is sold outside the cafeteria throughout the school day.

In the 1970s, most food sold on school grounds was sold in the cafeteria and was subject to USDA’s standards. Since then, vending machines have become commonplace.

A report last year by the Government Accountability Office said that 83 percent of elementary schools, 97 percent of middle schools and 99 percent of high schools sell foods out of vending machines and school stores and in a la carte lines in the cafeteria. A 2004 survey by CSPI of 251 schools found that 75 percent of the drinks and 85 percent of the snacks sold in school vending machines were of poor nutritional quality.

“When parents send their kids to school with lunch money, they shouldn’t have to worry that the money will be spent on foods that promote obesity, diabetes and tooth decay,” said Margo Wootan, CSPI nutrition policy director. “Disco-era nutrition standards don’t make sense in 2006. When you have an obesity epidemic, schools shouldn’t sell candy at recess, potato chips for lunch and soda throughout the day.”

USDA’s current definition of foods of minimal nutritional value focuses on whether a food has at least minimal amounts of one of eight nutrients. However, that definition doesn’t address empty calories, saturated or trans fats, salt or added sugar. By the current standard, flavored water is disallowed, while candy bars, cookies and potato chips can be sold anywhere on campus at all hours of the day, she said.

“USDA hasn’t updated the nutritional standards in 30 years,” Harkin said. “Since that time, we’ve learned a lot from the scientific community about the risks that a poor diet has down the line for children and adolescents. Today, for the first time ever, bipartisan legislation will be introduced in both chambers of Congress to address this problem – and to do what is right for the health of our kids.”

Harkin has been the Senate leader in federal efforts to combat the obesity epidemic by promoting wellness and healthy habits among adults and children. He authored the Harkin Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which provided free, fresh fruits and vegetables to children in schools as a pilot program.

The pilot program gave $6 million to 25 schools in Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio and six schools on an Indian reservation in New Mexico for the purchase of fruit and vegetable snacks to be offered free to children throughout the school day.

DiSogra of United’s primary job is to get that program expanded. It has been made permanent law, but is limited in its reach. It now has $9 million a year to fund fresh fruit and vegetable snacks in 25 schools in 14 states. There are about 100,000 schools in the 50 states.

Her immediate goal is to expand the program to 14 more states and 100 schools per state. That would cost $200 million, she said.

But, she said, legislation like that being introduced greatly speeds up the process. More states want the program and fight to get it.

And, she said, it sets other forces in motion, noting what happened May 2.

That day, the country’s largest beverage distributors agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

“This is a bold step forward in the struggle to help 35 million young people lead healthier lives,” former President Bill Clinton said at a news conference. “This one policy can add years and years and years to the lives of a very large number of young people.”

The companies agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, and to sell diet sodas only to high schools. In addition, portion sizes will be cut from 20 to 12 ounces. The restrictions will be gradually phased in.

On its Web site, the Center for Science in the Public Interest quoted other sponsors of the proposed new school nutrition law.

“Parents throughout the country know all too well the poor nutritional temptations facing our children each day at school,” said Alaska’s Murkowski. “At a time when childhood obesity rates continue to climb at an alarming rate, it is imperative that we take decisive action to curb this trend by helping our children develop healthy eating habits today that will impact them throughout their lives. This legislation takes an important step forward by removing the unhealthy foods that are currently being offered in our schools.”

Supporters of the bill argue that it is “a myth” that improving school foods reduces school revenue. Much of the money spent on junk food would be spent either on healthier snacks or on the federally reimbursable school meal, according to CSPI. Also, school soft-drink vending contracts typically raise only about $10 to $20 per student per year.

“Revenue from junk-food sales isn’t a philanthropic donation by soda and snack food companies,” Wootan said. “The money comes out of childrens’ pockets, and Coke and Pepsi take a cut of that money back to corporate headquarters. Schools are, in effect, taxing kids to help fund schools.”

The debate over childhood obesity and junk food has been increasing. Elementary schools in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia have banned the sale of junk food in schools until after lunch. Hawaii bans junk food in all schools all day. Florida bans the sale of junk food in elementary schools all day and in secondary schools until after lunch.

DiSogra said the Harkin legislation would give USDA the authority it needed to define junk foods, but whether USDA has the political will is another question. It may have to commission a panel of scientists to make the list – just as it did when expanding the list of foods that should be made available to women and children under the WIC program.