Expert Discusses School Beverage Amendment

As a nutritionist, Robert Keith applauds the progress schools have made in the last year banishing high-calorie drinks from campuses.

Some of his fellow nutritionists, though, are hopping mad. They regard the light trickle of sports drinks and other low-calorie fare returning to vending machines as an ominous sign.

If school administrators, parents, teachers and watchdog groups don’t stand sufficient guard, they fear that this trickle will turn in to a floodtide, leaving kids awash in the same sorts of high-calorie drinks that partly have contributed to the spike in obesity in recent decades.

Based on an agreement brokered last year by former President Bill Clinton, the three largest beverage companies — CocaCola, PepsiCo and Cadbury Schwepps — agreed to limit their school offerings only to water, low-fat milk and 100 percent juice in elementary schools, though sports drinks, light juices and diet drinks would be allowed in high school.

After the agreement was signed and sealed, beverage companies immediately began clamoring for revisions. Under the original agreement, only sports drinks and light juices with no more than 66 calories per 8 ounces were allowed to be sold in high schools. But beverage companies were able to work out an amendment that would allow “other drinks” with no more than 66 calories.

Some watchdog groups don’t like it one bit, and they’re becoming increasingly vocal about their concerns.

For his part, Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science, isn’t as concerned. As he sees it, the battle has been won — or, at least, mostly so. The worst contributors to obesity — high-calorie soft drinks totaling as many as 250 calories in some cases — have been banished from a growing number of schools. And even though a few sports drinks with significantly lower calories are creeping in, it doesn’t mean that the floodtides are just over the horizon.

For Keith, the main issue always has been about calories — something he fears many of his fellow nutritionists, in their zeal, have often overlooked.

“To me, that’s still the primary issue here,” he says “Why do we not want kids drinking sodas in school? Are we worried about their lack of vitamins? No. We’re worried because these drinks have lots of calories.

“Obesity has always been the big concern.”

And the fact remains that while beverage companies may have succeeded in sneaking in a range of products, the calorie limit still hasn’t been changed from the original agreement, Keith stresses.

The numbers speak for themselves, he says.

Not too long ago, for example, kids at many schools could buy a 20-ounce cola packing 250 calories. The most they can get now under the new rules is a 12-ounce sports drink with 75 calories. By any measure, that’s an improvement, Keith says.

“Even a 12-ounce cola contained around 150 calories, so now we’re down to half of that,” he says.

As a matter of fact, it’s not so much the calorie issue that disturbs Keith. What do concern him are the possible food safety implications of these other types of drinks. His fear is that over time, some companies may try to sneak in other types of nutritionally enhanced drinks that may contain potentially harmful substances.

“If you have vitamin-enhanced water today — not a big deal in terms of safety —who can say that the next product won’t be herbal-enhanced water, a high-caffeine beverage or some similar type of product that may actually be unsafe?”

Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 21, 2007 11:09 AM