It looks as if school vending machines are dumping sweet sodas for ‘healthier” drinks.

That sounds great, but there seems to be an epidemic of disguised junk food marketed as healthy stuff. It’s a complete scam as far as we’re concerned.

Raisins, Fruit Rollups and granola bars. Even Gatorade, which is not only loaded with sugar, but it’s also somewhat acidic.

Latest thing we’ve seen is called “Fruit to go” which is found in the produce section, to make it seem highly virtuous. They claim each bar is like a couple of servings of fruit. Well, it’s got all the sugar from a few servings, and maybe some of the vitamins, but it’s still junk.Kids would eat these by the kilogram if they could. I call it stealth junk food.

Makes it a lot tougher for all but the most informed patients. I’ve had some kids recently who said they never eat candy or drink sweet sodas. They only eat sweets at dessert. BUT… on closer examination the kids love those mini boxes of raisins, fruit bars and fruit juice. These dudes are full of decay.

Even unsweetened fruit juice will cause decay and acid erosion if the kids are popping them several times a day between meals.
Take look at Stop the Pop designed by the Missouri State Dental Association.click here There’s a wealth of references and things you can print out to give to your kids.

The Centre for Science in the Public Interest, who publish Nutrition Action Newsletter, have done some good work there. They had an earlier expose on sugar in drinks called “Liquid Candy”.