Soft drink manufacturers’ efforts to curb the sales of sugary drinks in schools have paid off, according to a report released today by a major beverage company trade group.
The sales volume of full-calorie soft drinks shipped to schools fell by 72 percent between 2006 and the fall of 2009, according to the report by the American Beverage Association. The result is an 88 percent drop in the beverage calories sold at schools, the report said.
The group attributed the decline to voluntary guidelines adopted by drink companies four years ago that eliminated the sale of full-calorie sodas in schools in favor of milk, juice, bottled water and — for high schoolers — sports drinks and diet soda. At the beginning of the school year 98.8 percent of schools were in compliance with these guidelines, the report found.
“We’ve successfully change (sic) the beverage landscape in a very meaningful way,” Susan Neely, the ABA’s president and chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal.
