Posted on 10/07/2006 11:59:23 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(Kraft, Mars, Campbell among companies agreeing to curbs)
New York - Snacks sold in schools will have less fat, sugar and salt under the latest crackdown on junk food won by former President 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.
"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% of their calories from fat and more than 10% from saturated fat. There will be a limit of 35% for sugar content by weight.
An example of a snack that would be banned is a Snickers bar, which has 280 calories, 130 of them from fat. The candy bar has 30 grams of sugar out of 58.7 total grams.
"I think it's a good move, but I'd feel a little bit better if they had a farmers' group there saying, 'We've struck an agreement to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in schools,' " said Joseph A. Skelton, a doctor who leads a special program for nutrition, exercise and weight management at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.
While pleased with the announcement, Skelton stressed that it's important to remember that "the rise in pediatric obesity has never been just one cause. Obesity is so complex."
Skelton said schools need to consider comprehensive food policies that promote good health. Such policies, he said, should determine whether children can eat in the classroom, set limited hours for use of the vending machines and establish what foods can be sold during fund-raisers.
Raymond Gibbons, president of the heart association, praised the agreement reached with the food companies, saying that "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."
Charles Nicolas, a spokesman for PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay and Quaker, said Frito-Lay already has products that meet the guidelines, such as baked potato chips and reduced-sugar chewy bars. "We're going to change a few recipes so that more snacks meet those guidelines as well," he said.
Kraft said in a statement that it would add the sodium and calorie caps to its nutrition guidelines "and extend these guidelines to include all of our competitive foods sold in schools."
Guidelines:
Foods won't be permitted to derive more than 35% of their calories from fat and more than 10% from saturated fat. There will be a limit of 35% for sugar content by weight.
Definately within the parameters for a Nanny State ping!
Women's Health Study Results (fat in diet didn't increase risk of heart attack and stroke)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1715479/posts
"One finding suggests that a diet lower in total fat did not significantly reduce the incidence of breast cancer, heart disease or stroke, nor reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in healthy, postmenopausal women. "
That's one of the very view pieces of candy manufactured for the general population that can ALSO be eaten regularly by Type II diabetics without too much damage.
All that fat, and the nuts, make up for the substantially reduced starch and sugar levels.
Too late to help Monica.
Words alone cannot describe my loathing for this man.
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/advice/article.php?contentId=1080&
Before age two a child's fat intake should not be restricted. Fat aids brain development and plays a critical role in myelinization, which is the development of a protective coating around the nerves, says Naomi Neufeld, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist and professor of pediatrics at the KidShape program at the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Human Nutrition.
Fortunately, both breast milk and formula contain anywhere from 40 percent to 55 percent fat—an optimal amount for the first two years of life. There is, however, potential for confusion about how much fat a child needs once cow's milk is introduced into his diet. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children can be fed cow's milk after age one and that once you introduce cow's milk, it should be whole, not low-fat or skim. "Children this age eat mostly grains and pureed fruits and vegetables without added fat, so they need the fat in whole milk," says Patty Morse, a pediatric dietitian at the Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago.
START TRIMMING THE FAT AT AGE TWO
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I wonder, isn't the above also applies to kids over the age of 2? The brain is not fully developed by age of 2.
Your maximum intake of calories from protein is 40%. You probably should not exceed 10% from all carbohydrates (sugar and starch), which means you MUST acquire 50% of your calories from fats and oils.
What is it Clinton and his running dogs have against Diabetics? His old lady is one, or hasn't he noticed.
Let's ban pencils while we're at it. Someone could poke an eye out.
"Words alone cannot describe my loathing for this man."
We are 100% on the same page there. He's definately giving Carter a run for title of 'Worst President Ever.'
Both of them truly sicken me. I can't believe how clueless Carter was and remains to be, to this day. I can't believe how self-serving and slimey Clinton is, not to mention his total lack of morals and general 'Peter Pan Syndrome' mental problems. And that wife of his! *SHIVER*
I need to go take a shower now. Blech!
Yeah, Bubba had fun all his life and now he wants to spoil it for everyone else.
I wonder if he advocates a voluntary limit on unwelcome sexual advances?
I think liberal brains may be.....
susie
Well, maybe not.
Our hometown newspaper had a front-page article about how high school kids make profits (gasp) selling candy and soda in the school parking lot.
The school administration chooses (wisely) to look the other way, even though the state prohibits candy & soda in school. The typical Connecticut nanny state outrage will manifest in Letters to the Editor next week.
Fat old thing dares to control the eating habits of our kids? Give me a break! I bet that guy eats chili on corn chips and Twinkies, Cool Whip and every other thing he's wanting to ban.
You bet--bubble gum cigars are on the prohibited list.
I hate bland food!
I love the term "voluntary limits". Don't we naturally have voluntary limits on everything.
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