Alliance for a Healthier Generation

The Guidelines

Elementary School

• Bottled water.
• Up to 8 ounce servings of milk and 100% juice.
• Low fat and non fat regular and flavored milk and nutritionally equivalent (per USDA) milk alternatives with up to 150 calories / 8 ounces.
• 100% juice with no added sweeteners, up to 120 calories / 8 ounces, and with at least 10% daily value of three or more vitamins and minerals.

Middle School

• Same as elementary school except juice and milk can be sold in 10 ounce servings.
• As a practical matter, if middle school and high school students have shared access to areas on a common campus or in common buildings, then the school community has the option to adopt the high school standard.

High School

• Bottled water.
• No or low calorie beverages with up to 10 calories / 8 ounces (e.g. diet sodas, diet and unsweetened teas, fitness waters, low calorie sports drinks, flavored waters, seltzers).
• Up to 12 ounce servings of milk, light juice, 100% juice and sports drinks.
• Low fat and non fat regular and flavored milk and nutritionally equivalent (per USDA) milk alternatives with up to 150 calories / 8 ounces.
• 100% juice with no added sweeteners, up to 120 calories / eight ounces, and at least 10% daily value of three or more vitamins and minerals.
• Light juices and sports drinks with no more than 66 calories / 8 ounces.
• At least 50 percent of beverages must be water and no or low calorie options.

These guidelines apply to beverages sold on school grounds during the regular and extended school day, including activities such as clubs, yearbook, band and choir practice, student government, drama, and childcare / latchkey programs. These guidelines do not apply to school-related events where parents and other adults are part of an audience or are selling beverages as boosters during intermissions, as well as immediately before or after an event. Examples of these events include school plays, and band concerts.

This is a ground breaking development for the health of our nation’s students. The guidelines set a high standard for portion control, nutrition quality, and calorie limits in grades K-12. The Alliance commends the leadership of the beverage industry for working to address health and wellness issues in schools. The Alliance also commends the efforts of the advocates and leaders who have worked to improve the nutrition in their districts, states, and the nation as a whole. This agreement will not undo those efforts.

Implementation and Reporting

It is the goal of the parties to achieve implementation of these standards in 75% of schools under contract prior to the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. Parties will strive to achieve

implementation for all schools prior to the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, provided schools and school districts are willing to amend existing school contracts.

Beginning in 2007, the American Beverage Association along with Cadbury-Schweppes, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo will support an annual analysis of the impact and status of these guidelines. This analysis will include beverage sales to students in all venues in schools, as well as contract compliance broken down by school level and by new vs. existing/amended contracts. Reports will further attempt to distinguish between beverages supplied directly to schools by bottlers and those supplied indirectly through other channels, such as food and beverage distributors and contract operators. The American Beverage Association will annually present this data on its website and/or a press release.