USDA Won't Enforce Rules against Junk Food Sales in Schools

The junk food industry won a major victory yesterday, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a petition that it enforce its own competitive foods rule, which prohibits public schools from selling "foods of minimal nutritional value" during mealtimes in school cafeterias. The rule was designed to promote the health of school children, but enforcement today is lax to non-existent. The petition simply requested that the USDA enforce the rule as written.

A Wall Street Journal poll in February, 2005, found that 83% of American adults believe "public schools need to do a better job of limiting children's access to unhealthy foods like snack foods, sugary soft drinks and fast food."

In March, the USDA admitted in a report that it does not know whether schools are complying with prohibitions against the sale of foods of minimal nutritional value during school mealtimes. The report stated, "it is unclear to what extent federal and state regulations [against the sale of foods of minimum nutritional value] are enforced at the local level".

Foods of minimal nutritional value are defined as soda pop, water ices, chewing gum, and certain types of candies, such as hard candies, jellied candies, licorice and marshmallows.

Bonnie & Steve - What could we add to this that is not said already?