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The deal already looks suspiciously sweetened. On May 3, 2006, U.S. beverage firms announced [8] an agreement with the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association gradually to pull most sweetened soft drinks from U.S. schools. Former President Bill Clinton [9] led the press conference [10]. But food policy expert Michele Simon [11] says Clinton gave PR cover to the companies and coopted a more transparent public health-centered negotiation. Soda sales had already flattened. The beverage makers may have been looking to avoid a patchwork of state laws and to protect school vending machine slots for their other products--such as high calorie sports drinks, which were not part of the deal. Simon writes: "[T]his so-called agreement could undermine the massive public health effort currently underway in schools all across the nation."
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/2282/jonathan-rosenblum
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/corporate-social-responsibility
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/health/obesity
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/children
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/education
[6] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/health
[7] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2006%2F05%2F4811%2Fex-prez-rapped-flack-soda-jerks&linkname=%20Ex-Prez%20Rapped%20as%20Flack%20for%20Soda%20Jerks
[8] http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/03/softdrinks.schools.ap/index.html
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Jefferson_Clinton
[10] http://www.clintonfoundation.org/video.htm?title=Healthy%20School%20Beverage%20Policy
[11] http://www.informedeating.org
[12] http://www.informedeating.org/newsletters/060515.htm