School Beverage Guidelines

Cutting Calories from Schools

The Alabama Beverage Association voluntarily removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools and replaced them with lower-calorie options and smaller portion sizes. Through our industry efforts and community support, we’ve successfully reduced beverage calories shipped to schools by 90%.

These effectiveness of these voluntary guidelines inspired the USDA’s own Smart Snacks in Schools Beverage Guidelines.

• Removed full-calorie soft drinks from all K-12 schools
• 100% juice, low-fat milk and bottled water are allowed in elementary and middle schools
• Low- and no-calorie beverages and calorie-capped sports drinks, flavored waters and teas are allowed in high schools
• None of our beverages shipped to schools exceeded 66 calories per 8 ounces, except 100% juices
• Juices portion-controlled to 8 ounces in elementary schools, 10 ounces in middle schools and 12 ounces in high schools
• Reduced beverage calories shipped to schools by 90%

*Data compiled by Keybridge Research and published in the American Journal of Public Health (Aug. 16, 2012)