U.S. beverage industry agrees to limit pop sales in schools

Students in the U.S. will no longer be able to buy regular pop at school because major beverage distributors and anti-obesity advocates say they've reached a deal to restrict sales in vending machines.

Nearly 35 million students in the U.S. will be affected, said the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which worked with the William J. Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association to broker the deal, announced Wednesday in New York.

• INDEPTH: School junk food bans

The agreement is meant to help fight child obesity in the school system, said Robert Eckel, president of the American Heart Association.

Only water, juice and low-fat milk will be sold in elementary and middle schools.

In high school, the choices will include low-calorie drinks containing less than 10 calories per serving, such as:

• Diet pop.
• Unsweetened teas.
• Sports drinks.
• Flavoured water.

The agreement targets an estimated 87 per cent of the school drink market, said Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, which signed the deal.

The association includes beverage makers Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Cadbury Schweppes PLC.

Under the terms of the agreement, the beverage industry will aim to apply the standard to 75 per cent of schools by the 2008 school year, and fully implement the guidelines by the following school year.

In August, the beverage association adopted a voluntary policy to limit soft drinks in high schools to half of the choices in vending machines.