''New regulations promote healthier snack foods in schools''
Jessica Donze Black speaks with Online Athens about the USDA's decision to set nutrition standards on school snack foods and beverages.
More info"Proponents of changes from the USDA say that easy access is exactly why the federal government should create new rules. At least 39 states and individual school systems have nutrition guidelines for snacks, but the standards vary.
'It’s all over the map,' said Jessica Donze Black, director of the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. 'There are some states in which the majority of schools are still selling regular chips and chocolate candy, and there are states where almost none are doing that.'
A majority of middle and high schools don’t offer fruit or vegetables in snack bars or vending machines, according to a report from the Pew project. J. Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom, said some school guidelines are so strict that students have skirted the rules by selling candy bars and soda from out of their lockers and cars.
'The foods cannot fall below a certain minimum threshold of being palatable,' Wilson said. Otherwise, 'the healthfulness of the food is lost because the kids aren’t eating.'
The proposed minimum USDA guidelines would generally require snack foods to contain fewer than 200 calories a serving, with no more than 35 percent of the calories or weight coming from sugar or fat and less than 200 milligrams of sodium a portion. The guidelines would prohibit trans fats and require that less than 10 percent of snack calories come from saturated fats."
- Date added:
- Apr 14, 2013
- Project:
- Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods Project
- Topic:
- School Food
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