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For Immediate |
GIVING AWAY FREE SODAS DURING SCHOOL LUNCHES EVADES CONGRESSIONAL BAN ON SELLING SODAS DURING SCHOOL LUNCHES
In some schools -- including certain schools in California, Florida, Michigan, and Utah -- free sodas are being given away as part of school lunches (and sometimes even as part of the school breakfast). This practice evades the current Federal ban on the sale of sodas as part of school meals.
Both Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) have determined that it is healthier for students to drink milk rather than sodas.
Giving away free sodas may be linked to the current efforts by soft drink companies to sell more sodas to students in schools -- outside of the school lunch program -- by sharing the proceeds from such sales with the school system. Such a contract, according to The Denver Post (November 22, 1998), led a Colorado Springs school administrator to urge school principals to take steps to boost Coca-Cola sales in their schools by, for example, making the Coca-Cola vending machines more accessible to students and permitting students to drink Coke products while in the classroom. Some Colorado Springs elementary school teachers objected to such efforts.
Background
Beginning with the National School Lunch Act of 1946, 42 U.S.C. §1751 et seq., Congress has sought to provide school children with nutritious food during the school day. In 1977 Congress directed USDA to take steps to restrict access by school children to foods of low nutritional value. P.L. 95-166. In 1980 USDA issued regulations to implement this 1997 law.
The National Soft Drink Association challenged the legality of the USDA’s 1980 regulations, which banned, in part, the sale of soft drinks. This challenged was rejected by the Federal District Court, which noted that the Congressional debates on the 1997 law “convey an unmistakable concern that ‘junk foods,’ notably various types of candy bars, chewing gum and soft drinks, not be allowed to compete in participating schools.” National Soft Drink Association v. Bergland, 493 F. Supp. 488 (D.D.C. 1980) rev’d in part and aff’d in part sub nom. National Soft Drink Association v. Block, 721 F.2d 1348 (D.C. Cir. 1983). The District Court observed that “Logic and common sense, as well as several studies in the [rulemaking] record, suggest that irregular eating habits combined with ready access to junk foods adversely affect federal nutritional objectives.” Another Federal court held that USDA's 1980 regulations did not bar a school district from offering students a choice of milk or soda as part of a school lunch so long as the soda was not sold separately. Pulaski County Special School District v. Bergland, 495 F. Supp. 820 (E.D. Ark. 1980).
USDA’s current regulations prohibit the sale of foods of “minimal nutritional value” -- which include sodas, water ices, chewing gum, and certain candies -- in the food service area during the lunch period in any school. 7 C.F.R. §210.11(b). The current regulations do not mention the giving away of free sodas.
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