Snacks That Meet "Smart Snacks In School" Rules

With the USDA's new "Smart Snacks In School" rules finalized, the types of snacks and beverages that will be allowable on school campuses come July 1, 2014 will look significantly different from the snacks and beverages that have been sold on most school campuses.

Based on the requirements, which you can view here, some of the allowable snacks and beverages based on the Smart Snacks In School rules include:

Snacks

• Fruits & vegetables (dried, canned, fresh), of course
• Whole-grain based chips, including Pop Corners in "Popped Sweet Cinnamon"
•  Whole-grain based snack bars, including Clif Z Bar in Full Moon Brownie, Kashi's TLC Chewy Bar in Cherry Dark Chocolate, Monkey Bars in Chocolate Chips, Larabar in Blueberry Muffin and more
• Chobani Greez Yogurt (6 oz) in Honey

Beverages

• Water, of course
• Milk (dairy and otherwise), including Pacific Natural Foods' Almond Milk & Horizon Organic Milk
• 100% fruit juice and fruit juice diluted with water or carbonation (see specific grade-based size limits here), Apple & Eve's Fruitables and Hint Water

For an extensive list of Smart-Snacks-In-School-approved snacks and beverages, sign up at SmartSnacksInSchool.com here.

© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Schools Incorporate Smart Snacks In School Rules Early

While schools don't technically have to comply with the USDA's new "Smart Snacks In School" rules until July 1, 2014, many schools across the country are gradually introducing snacks that meet the new rules into their healthy vending programs now to ensure students have time to get used to the changes.

A couple examples are:

• Greensburg-Salem School District, a public school district in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. According to an article in the Tribune Review here, the food service director for Pittsburgh Schools, Curtistine Walker, said: “It's better to do it now, because it will not be as big as a shock to them." The article goes on to explain that Pittsburgh Public Schools serves about 19,000 lunches and 11,000 breakfasts each school day. 
• Schools in Missoula, Montana are turning to HUMAN Healthy Vending franchisees, Sarah and Alex Baer, to provide a leg up on the Smart Snacks In School rules, too, according to an article in The Missoulian here.

I think it makes sense for schools to start phasing in more healthful competitive foods options, especially if the school sells predominantly less nutritious foods.

As we've learned with the National School Lunch Program, nutrition changes involving students take time and patience.

Do you think schools should phase into the new Smart Snacks In School rules or postpone until next year?

© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Smart Snacks In School Shift: Is it Enough?

Do you think kids are born craving McDonald's and Burger King?

Of course not. Children are socialized into believing that junk-foods are to be preferred over other foods in large part because of fast-food marketing.

 Last week, an article published in PLos entitled, How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed at Children Compares with Adult Advertisements.

Here is a great excerpt from the study:

In 2006, U.S. QSR chains reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that they spent $161 million marketing to 2–11 year olds (56% on television advertising). Of the money QSR chains spent, $74.4 million (46%) went to cross-promotions to tie their meals to movies, television shows, and animated characters. [9] An additional estimated $360 million was spent on the toy premiums themselves. [10] Exposure to food advertisements has been shown to alter eating choices and behaviors, [11] and associating food with animated characters enhances a child’s perceived food taste and preference. [9], [12] Obese children may be highly susceptible to food advertising. [13], [14] Fast food advertising exposure is associated with higher fast food consumption in children, [15] and fast food branding has been shown to influence taste preferences [16].

Here are some other interesting facts, pulled from Fooduate blog's recap:

• 99% of fast food commercials aired during the study period were for McDonald’s and Burger King
• 4 out of 5 commercials aired on 4 primary channels – Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Nicktoons.
• Toy giveaways were shown in 69% of the kid commercials vs. virtually none in adult commercials.
• Movie tie-ins accounted for over half the children’s commercials vs just 14% for adult commercials.

So, you may be wondering - who governs marketing to children? Technically, the FTC would be the agency to regulate marketing and while it has published guidelines, they're voluntary. In other words, they don't have any actual legal authority to regulate food advertising based on nutrition. The food industry has said over and over that it can and will self-regulate. But how effective or ethical can self-regulation be?

There is some good news though. When it comes to schools, a recent CDC study showed that school districts are banning junk foods and taking less donations from soda companies. This is, in large part, due to the fact that Smart Snacks In School are requiring schools to ditch the junk.

Here are the details:

• 44 percent of school districts banned junk food from vending machines last year, up from 30 percent in 2006.
• The proportion of school districts that allowed soda companies to advertise soft drinks on school grounds — through posters, scoreboard placards or other ways — dropped from 47 percent to about 34 percent.
• Of districts that allowed schools to sell soft drinks, the percentage that received a portion of sales receipts fell from 82 percent in 2006 to 69 percent in 2012.
• Of districts that allowed soda sales, the amount that received cash awards, equipment donations or other incentives from soda companies fell from 52 percent to 34 percent.

Report: http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/index.htm

What do you think? Is it enough that schools are ditching the junk and junk-food bribes? Or is the prevalence of fast-food marketing to kids via TV and online mediums still too much to outweigh?

© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

New Lunchables-like Product Debuts

Revolution Foods, a company based in Oakland, Calif., has launched a new retail product line that stands to compete with Kraft's "Lunchables" by offering a similar - but more healthful - alternative called "Meal Kits."

Revolution Foods is offering 4 options:

1. Turkey & Cheddar Meal Kit
2. Ham & Cheddar Meal Kit
3. Cheese Pizza Meal Kit
4. Peanut Butter & Jelly Meal Kit

All boast being without artificial flavors, colors and preservatives and without high fructose corn syrup. The meats are nitrites/nitrates and the cheese comes from cows not treated with hormones. Instead of a cookie or pudding dessert, kiddos will get 1-serving of fruit in the form of dried fruit rope. These aren't going to win the approval of the food purists, but they're certainly a better alternative to Lunchables.

Speaking of Lunchables, according to the New York Times:

"The Kraft Food Group’s Oscar Mayer brand created the concept of prepackaged lunch meals for children in 1988 and has effectively owned that business ever since, with sales accounting for 76 percent of the small but lucrative $1.35 billion niche product category, according to IRI, a market research firm in Chicago" [source].

Lunchables has been getting a bad rap since the '90s, but even recently, its name came up when Michael Moss published his book Salt Sugar Fat. Mr. Moss seems particularly fascinated with how Kraft manufactured the product and consistently tried new tactics to monopolize the market share in this niche despite the product offered questionable nutritional value (to put it mildly).

Revolution Foods' retail lunch line might very well give Lunchables a run for its money - though it really depends on price point, availability (right now, they're limited to Nor Cal) and whether kids can give up their nitrate-filled mystery meat with enriched wheat cracker and pudding cup for something more healthful.

Kids are having enough trouble with their more healthful school lunches. Perhaps Revolution Foods can find a market in the growing number of kids who will be bringing lunch from home?

© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

What Got Left Out of Smart Snacks In School?

Based on the USDA's "Smart Snacks In School" rules, school snacks & beverages must be whole-grain-rich, protein-rich, and/or fruit- & vegetable-rich. Then, once that initial rule is met, there are nutrient limits set on the item's calories, fats, sugars, and sodium that must be met.

But, what didn't get limits or even a mention at all in Smart Snacks In School?

[Source]

• artificial food dyes
• artificial preservatives
• high fructose corn syrup
• partially-hydrogenated oils (there is a cap placed on trans fat, but it still allows less than 0.5g per item)
• artificial sweeteners

Based on these rules, items like diet sodas and whole-grain snack bars with HFCS could make the cut and be a staple in school vending machines.

Do you think these ingredients should be limited from school snacks and beverages?

In an article in MSN, Michele Simon, a food policy lawyer and author, says of the rules, "'Diet soda is fine – which is an abomination as far as I am concerned.'" She adds: "'They [the USDA] are still focused on nutrients and grams of fat, and not grams of sugar' explaining that under the new rules, flavored milk has a size limit but no sugar limit" [read full article here].

What do you think? 

© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Smart Snacks In School Resources

Where should you go for Smart Snacks In School information?

There are plenty of resources available!

• SmartSnacksInSchool.com - the entire site has great resources, including videos and handouts, on what the rules are & how schools can comply with them seamlessly
• Kids' Safe & Healthful Foods Project has a great "7 Questions" resource page here
• The USDA's page here is useful (& official!)
• The blog post on the Jamie Oliver Foundation page here, written by Momsrising.org is useful

Video resources:
 
 
© Annabel Adams, Smart Snacks In School, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Annabel Adams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.