State Plans To Limit Junk Food In Schools
BOSTON (CBS/AP) - Massachusetts public health regulators have approved regulations to limit the sale of sugary soft drinks, salty and calorie-packed snacks, and even white bread sandwiches from public schools.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
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The rules approved Wednesday in response to concerns about overweight students would apply to a la carte lines, snack shops, and vending machines, but not to the main cafeteria line.
They would apply during the school day and a half-hour before and after classes.
Harvard School of Public Health professor Meredith Rosenthal thinks it's a great idea.
"We have processed snacks, sodas, including sports drinks as well. These are foods that are very, very high in sugar and have been demonstrated to be associated with obesity," she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
The rules need the approval of the state Public Health Council, an appointed panel of doctors and experts, which is expected to consider them at a spring meeting.
They would take effect in 2012.
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