Funyuns Become a Thing of Vending Machine History

By Olivia Leigh in Food on Oct 11, 2006 4:25PM

When Chicagoist was in sixth grade, few things were better than the sweet, sweet glory of a Snickers bar and Orange Crush from the vending machines before student council meetings.

But young Illinois school students will now have to try finding similar excitement from still water and carrot sticks, as a new law will require replacing sugary, fatty foods and drinks with healthful alternatives.

While current state laws prohibit the selling of unhealthful foods to elementary students during breakfast or lunch times, the new junk food bans, passed yesterday by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, will encompass the entire school day and also be expanded to middle schools. Schools that currently have contracts with vendors will be exempt from the new rules until their contract is up, after which they must abide by the new laws.

The law requires that juice sold in schools must contain at least 50 percent juice (not 25 percent or 13 percent), and water must be non-flavored, non-carbonated and unsweetened; in other words, void of anything that might make a kid interested in drinking water. Nuts, seeds, cheese, fruit, non-fried vegetables and low-fat yogurt products will largely be the snacks available to purchase. Any other item sold cannot contain more than 200 calories and must also meet guidelines for fat and sugar content.

While many parents will undoubtedly be supportive of their children not having access to calorie- and sugar-laden snacks, some school administrators are upset with the ruling.

“We're a little disappointed today,'' Ben Schwarm, spokesman for the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, told the Sun-Times. “We strongly opposed this ban all the way through the process…. This should not be dictated from the state, locally elected school boards should be making these decisions.''

And in case you were wondering, yes, high schoolers will continue to be allowed to eat all the garbage they want. Nutty Bars for everyone!

Image from Flickr user Atari, Gracinha, & Marco