UK and France to ban junk food in schools

The UK government announceD plans to ban junk food in the nation’s schools, bringing an end to the sale of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks in school vending machines. The move is part of the government s drive to improve nutrition in schools by banning all foods with high fat, salt or sugar content from school meals and vending machines as from next September.
With the growing global obesity crisis, nutrition in schools has recently come into sharp focus. Last month, France banned all vending machines in schools across the nation. France s food standards body, AFSSA, supported the ban as part of wider measures. It said in a statement that it was in favour of banning vending machines to discourage snacking, yet more action was needed to improve the nutritional value of school meals.
In the US, the American Beverages Association, backed by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, recently introduced a voluntary ban on all drinks except water and 100 per cent juice in elementary schools, and all full-calorie soft drinks in middle schools. Calls for bans on vending machines in schools have still been seen in some other western nations, including Ireland. Some US states have banned fizzy sodas in middle and elementary schools, while California has just passed legislation to extend this ban to high schools.