The American Beverage Association's (ABA) board of directors approved a new school vending policy aimed at providing lower-calorie and/or nutritious beverages to schools and limiting the availability of soft drinks in schools. Under the new policy, the beverage industry will provide:
* Elementary schools with only water and 100% juice.
* Middle schools with only nutritious and/or lower-calorie beverages, such as water, 100% juice, sports drinks, no-calorie soft drinks, and low-calorie juice drinks. No full-calorie soft drinks or full-calorie juice drinks with 5% or less juice until after school; and
* High schools with a variety of beverage choices, such as bottled water, 100% juice, sports drinks, and juice drinks. No more than 50% of the vending selections will be soft drinks.