05.03.10
Consistent with the company’s existing U.S. policy, Purchase, NY-based PepsiCo is voluntarily adopting a new global policy to stop selling full-sugar soft drinks to primary and secondary schools by 2012. Details of the PepsiCo policy were drawn up following discussions with the World Heart Federation in Geneva. The World Heart Federation is the premier non-governmental organization recognized by the World Health Organization as its leading partner in the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease. PepsiCo will work with its bottlers, vending companies and third-party distributors—in collaboration with parents, community leaders and school officials around the world—to offer low-calorie beverages for primary and secondary schools. The company worked with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation—a joint initiative of the American Heart Association, the William J. Clinton Foundation and other beverage industry leaders—to change the mix of beverages in U.S. schools through voluntary guidelines. The guidelines precluded the sale of full-sugar soft drinks to students in elementary and secondary schools, permitting only low-calorie drinks and portion-controlled juices, sports drinks and waters. In early March, three years after guidelines were announced, it was reported that nearly 99% of measured schools were in compliance.