Under the new proposals, companies will only sell water and 100 percent juice in elementary school vending machines.
Lower calorie beverages will be allowed to go on sale to middle school students, while a variety of beverage choices to high school students. However, no more than 50 percent of the vending selections will be soft drinks.
ABA's board of directors, which unanimously approved the policy, represents 20 companies that comprise approximately 85 percent of school vending beverage sales by bottlers.
"The school environment is unique, and therefore requires a flexible approach," said John T. Cahill, chairman and chief executive officer, The Pepsi Bottling Group. "This policy strives to be responsive to parents' feedback while continuing to offer a variety of refreshing beverage choices."
The ABA's president and chief executive, Susan Neely, unveiled the association's new policy today at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in Seattle.
"Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the US, and the responsibility for finding common-sense solutions is shared by everyone, including our industry," she said.
"We understand that parents want more control over what their younger children consume in school and we want to support them with this policy."
The announcement comes a month after the Center for Science in the Public Interest called for cigarette-style warnings on soft drinks to alert consumers that too much of the sugary beverages can make people fat and cause other health problems. At that time, Neely said that asking the FDA to put warning labels on soft drinks, or any food products that contain caloric sweeteners, would be highly patronizing to consumers.
However, pressure on the industry has been such that some form of action was inevitable. Intense lobbying from health groups to kick out soft drinks and junk food from schools in America has become front-page news; 38 states considered school nutrition bills last year, most of which included a vending machine component.
At least 14 laws have now been enacted. The ball was therefore very much in the ABA's court, and the new policy can be seen as a means of avoiding possible legal challenges and law suits over links between soft drink consumption at school and rising obesity.
The American Beverage Association is now asking beverage producers and school districts to implement the new policy as soon as possible. Where school beverage contracts already exist, the policy would be implemented when the contract expires or earlier if both parties agree.
The success of the policy, warns the ABA, is dependent on voluntary implementation of it by individual beverage companies and by school officials. The policy will not supercede federal, state and local regulations already in place.
Some nutrition groups will counter that the new vending policy is simply a half-hearted effort designed to avoid the total removal of soft drinks from schools. And the bottom line of course is that this is a gesture the industry can afford to take.
The ABA already has a general practice of not selling carbonated soft drinks to students in elementary schools, and the sector respresents less than 1 percent of sales in North America for companies such as Coke.
However, some campaigners are encouraged that the industry has at last responded to growing concerns over adolescent health.
"The beverage industry should be commended for listening to parents, lawmakers and school officials across the country," said North Carolina Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue. "This initiative makes meaningful changes to the beverages sold through vending machines in schools and should be welcome news for anyone who cares about children's health."
Similarly, California assemblywoman Gloria Negrete McLeod said that she applauded the beverage industry's leadership in addressing the issue of childhood obesity.
"Many factors have contributed to the recent rise in children's obesity rates, but I praise the beverage industry's positive step in helping our kids," she said.