Press Release: Snack Food Association Endorses Alliance for a Healthier Generation Snack Food Guidelines

The Bachman Company, Rudolph Foods Company, Shearer's Foods and Ubiquity Brands Join Growing List of Companies Committed to Healthier Snacks in Schools.

The Snack Food Association (SFA), an international trade association that represents over 400 snack manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, announced their endorsement today of the snack food guidelines developed by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.

In addition, two national snack food manufacturers – The Bachman Company, Rudolph Foods Company, Shearer’s Foods, and Ubiquity Brands– also committed to the Alliance’s first-ever voluntary guidelines for snacks and side items sold in schools. To date, a total of seven food manufacturers have joined with the Alliance to implement the first-ever voluntary guidelines for snacks and side items sold in schools that will provide healthier food choices for America’s children. The companies are investing in product reformulation and new product development, while promoting and supporting implementation of the guidelines in schools across the country.

“Childhood obesity is a public health epidemic that demands action today,” said President Clinton. “One out of every six children in America is overweight, and the current generation of young people could be the first to live shorter lives than their parents. I’m grateful that a growing number of businesses are standing up to do something about the childhood obesity epidemic in America, by agreeing to healthier standards for the products they sell in schools.”

“While we do not believe that any single food, ingredient, or category of food is the cause – or the solution – to the obesity challenge, the Snack Food Association wants to do our part in helping parents, educators, health professionals and kids address this very complex problem,” said Richard M. Rudolph, Snack Food Association chairman of the board. “Parents can practice healthy eating and exercise habits with their children at home but can not be present in school to guide the choices their children make. Therefore, we endorse the snack food guidelines created uniquely for schools by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and applaud the Alliance's Healthy Schools Program that helps students learn healthy eating habits and have more access to physical activity.”

“Ubiquity Brands is committed to improving the nutritional value of the snack foods that we sell. We recently removed trans-fat from our national brands and have introduced some reduced fat and baked products. Soon, we will announce the launch of a reduced fat, high fiber line of products,” said Dr. Tom Reynolds, Executive Vice President, Product Innovation.

“The Bachman Company is committed to providing healthy snack options for kids to choose from,” said Scott Carpenter, President. “That's why many of our current products already meet the Alliance Guidelines. Joining with the Alliance reinforces our continued emphasis on the importance of incorporating these Guidelines into our development of new products.”

The Bachman Company, Rudolph Foods Company, Shearer’s Foods, and Ubiquity Brands join food industry leaders Campbell Soup Company, Dannon, Kraft Foods, Mars and PepsiCo, which announced the guidelines with the Alliance in October 2006. For the past 5 months, these companies have been working with the Alliance to help encourage broad acceptance of the new guidelines by schools and food distributors. The companies have also launched new healthier snack products that meet or exceed the Alliance guidelines.

“Childhood obesity is one of the biggest risks to our children’s future health,” said Raymond Gibbons, MD, President of the American Heart Association, “This dangerous trend is largely preventable, and this initiative is a step in the right direction to reversing that trend.”

The Alliance is currently working with more than 1,100 schools across the country to make health improvements. This includes changing foods and beverages sold in vending machines, on a la carte lines, in school stores and during fundraising events. It is expected that the number of schools will grow at least six-fold within the next school year.

The Alliance is expanding its technical assistance to schools in this area by providing taste tests of healthier products to help students influence the choices of foods sold in their school, tools for conducting health-promoting fundraisers, and support in contracting with competitive foods suppliers. The Snack Food Association will assist with this support by providing information to its members through videos, seminars and publications.

To help schools find and select products that meet the snack food guidelines, the Alliance recently launched the Healthy Schools Product Navigator – a free online tool that enables users to quickly and easily browse products that meet the guidelines (by brand or category) and create a shopping list to take to their distributor or local wholesale store. For more information visit: www.HealthierGeneration.org/ProductNavigator

These guidelines are the latest addition to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program and the Alliance’s comprehensive, bold approach to combating childhood obesity.

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation Snack Food Guidelines
The science-based guidelines were developed in conjunction with nutrition experts at the American Heart Association. The guidelines apply to foods that are not part of the National School Lunch Program and that are offered for sale to students before, during and after the school day. The guidelines cover foods and snacks, desserts, side items and treats sold throughout schools, including school vending machines, ala carte lines, school stores, snack carts and fundraisers.

The guidelines promote the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nutrient-rich foods, and fat-free and low-fat dairy foods, and they place limits on calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium. Under the guidelines, products can have no more than 35 percent of their calories from total fat and 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. They can contain no more than 35 percent sugar by weight and can have no more than 230 milligrams of sodium. No trans fats are allowed.

A wide range of choices are included in the guidelines. For more information visit: www.HealthierGeneration.org/Snacks

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