The soda industry has voluntarily chosen to no longer sell sugary drinks in secondary schools across the European Union. The move comes eleven years after the ban on sugary drinks in primary schools.
40 million kids
Every member of the industry organization UNESDA, which includes Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Refresco, has signed the promise to stop sell sugary drinks in secondary schools at the end of 2018. However, they can still sell drinks that have low calorie counts. UNESDA says the new measure will impact 50,000 secondary schools and help more than 40 million kids across the European Union.
The fact that they can still sell several drinks in secondary schools differs from the approach in primary schools, where they can not sell any drink any more, even the healthier variants. That agreement, which dates back to 2006, indicates the industry will no longer advertize to children younger than twelve. That deal impacted 28 million small children across the European Union. An audit revealed that 95 % adheres to the rules.
“Children and adolescents are a special audience that needs particular attention and we are fully aware of our industry’s role in enabling young consumers to make healthy choices”, PepsiCo’s Cesar Melo said.
