Snack Attack: Industry lobbies on junk food

By Ken Silverstein

From the Wall Street Journal:

The food and beverage industries are coming around to support some efforts in Washington to limit the sale of junk food in school vending machines, the Washington Post suggests. There are a few reasons for the shift.

For one thing, many companies now have divisions that could profit from a shift to healthier foods. Coca-Cola, for example, might not mind so much if kids drank less Coke— as long as they switched to Dasani water, another Coca-Cola product.

What’s more, as states look to fight childhood obesity, they’re considering taking matters into their own hands to create local regulations. A dozen states already have rules on what foods can be sold at schools, beyond the lunch line. And the industry would rather follow (and try to influence) a single, national standard, as opposed to a patchwork of state rules.