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Healthier snacks going to school

By KAREN MATTHEWS | Associated Press

NEW YORK — Snacks sold in schools will have less fat, sugar and salt under the latest crackdown on junk food won by former President Bill Clinton.

Just five months after a similar agreement targeting the sale of sodas in schools, Clinton and the American Heart Association announced a deal Friday with several major food companies to make school snacks healthier — the latest assault on the nation's childhood obesity epidemic.

"This is voluntary," Clinton said. "They don't have to do it. But they recognize the challenge we face, and they are helping us face the first step."

Clinton said the obesity problem is hurting the American economy by contributing to high health care costs.

The agreement with Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Groupe Danone SA and PepsiCo Inc. sets guidelines for fat, sugar, sodium and calories for snack foods sold in school vending machines, stores and snack bars. Those companies make everything from M&M's, yogurt and granola bars to Frito-Lay potato chips, Snickers bars and canned soups.

Under the guidelines, most foods won't be permitted to derive more than 35 percent of their calories from fat and more than 10 percent from saturated fat. There will be a limit of 35 percent for sugar content by weight.

Those rules would mean students in participating schools would have to say goodbye to Nacho Doritos, which get less than half of their calories from fat, and the Mars Milky Way bar, which is 60 percent sugar.

"By working with schools and industry to implement these guidelines, we are helping to give parents peace of mind that their kids will be able to make healthier choices at school," said Dr. Raymond Gibbons, president of the heart association.

Gibbons said the guidelines are based on the recommendations of scientists "as to what we should be doing to provide more nutritious foods for our kids."

Charles Nicolas, a spokesman for PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay and Quaker, said Frito-Lay already has products that meet the guidelines.

"We're going to change a few recipes so that more snacks meet those guidelines as well," he said.

Fast Snacks Junked

There will be less fat, sugar and salt in school snacks under the latest crackdown won by former President Clinton in his fight against childhood obesity.

*TRIM THE FAT: Goodies including Snickers bars, which have 130 calories and 30 grams of sugar, would be discouraged from inclusion in school vending machines.

*STUDENTS WON’T STARVE: Frito-Lay says it already has products that meet the guidelines and will change recipes for other snacks.

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