Beverage Industry Sets Voluntary Rules for Soda Vending in Schools

The nation’s leading soft-drink producers have come up with voluntary guidelines that would restrict the sale of sodas in schools, but critics say the move will have almost no impact where the problem is worst—in high schools.

The board of the American Beverage Association, whose members collectively sell 85 percent of the soft drinks in the school vending market, approved the policy Aug. 16. Under the guidelines, producers would provide elementary schools with only water and 100 percent juice, and middle schools with nutritious and low-calorie drinks, including water, sports drinks, and fruit juices as well as diet soft drinks. In high schools, no more than 50 percent of vending machine selections could be regular or diet sodas.

“We believe this policy is a sensible approach that addresses the issues unique to the school environment,” Susan K. Neely, the trade group’s president, said in announcing the guidelines Aug. 17 in Seattle at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The association includes major producers such as the Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc., as well as fruit-juice manufacturers such as Tropicana Products Inc. and...