Under a voluntary agreement brokered by former president Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) and three other snack food makers promised to replace their current snack offerings for healthier products in school vending machines.
The issue of trying to improve the nutritional content of food sold in schools is not a new one but with the intense scrutiny because of the rising rates of childhood obesity major suppliers of snack foods have agreed to do their part to help.
Earlier this year Clinton and the AHA maded agreements with Coca-Cola Co. (KO) and Cadbury Schweppes (CSGWF-PK) to stop selling non-diet soft drinks in schools. A 2001 USDA study found 56 percent to 85 percent of children consume soft drinks on any given day, as reported in this WashingtonPost.com article.
The other companies, Mars Inc., Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) and Dannon Co., agreed to limit the number of calories from fat, saturated fat and the amount of sugar. All five companies don't have as big a say in how their items are stocked in school vending machines due to third party vendors etc.
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