HUMAN Healthy Vending Launches SmartSnacksInSchool.com, Nation’s First Website Dedicated to USDA’s “Smart Snacks in School” Rules
Los Angeles, Calif. (PRWEB) August 02, 2013 -- HUMAN Healthy Vending (http://www.healthyvending.com), a national, award-winning franchisor of healthy vending machine businesses, announces the launch of its site, SmartSnacksInSchool.com, the nation’s first and only website dedicated to assisting schools in complying with the USDA’s new competitive food rules called, "Smart Snacks in School."
On June 27th, the USDA released its “Smart Snacks in School” rules, which affect the 100,000+ elementary, middle and high schools that accept assistance from the National School Lunch Program. “Smart Snacks in School” are a result of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which set a deadline for the USDA to update its 1979 school snack standards.
The “Smart Snacks in School” rules affect “competitive foods,” which are snacks sold in vending machines, a la carte lunch lines and in student stores, and set limits on the amount of calories, fats, sugar and sodium allowed in snacks, while requiring that snacks be predominantly made with dairy, whole grains, protein, fruits and/or vegetables.
Acceptable beverages, under these rules, are limited to: water or carbonated water; unflavored low-fat milk; flavored or unflavored fat-free milk and soy alternatives; and 100% fruit or vegetable juice. Allowable portion sizes of juice and milk vary by grade. There are additional beverage options for high school students, including lower or calorie-free beverages, however, schools cannot sell regular-calorie sports drinks.
Schools must comply with these rules by July 1, 2014.
SmartSnacksInSchool.com offers the following free resources to schools, nutrition professionals, and parents:
• Guide and video to understanding the nutrient limits on competitive foods.
• Guide and video with 5 easy steps to transitioning from your school’s current vending program to a healthy vending program.
• Guide and video with explanations as to why schools should act now, rather than wait until next year, to ensure compliance with Smart Snacks in School.
• Guide to Competitive Foods and Smart Snacks in School, which can be used as a handout. This guide breaks down Smart Snacks in School’s nutrient limits and rules in an easy-to-understand format.
• Guide to Smart Snacks in School Calculations. This guide gives you the formulas to assess whether a snack meets the nutrient limits.
“We are proud to launch SmartSnacksInSchool.com as the preeminent resource for school compliance with the Smart Snacks in School rules,” said Sean Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of HUMAN Healthy Vending. “We want to help schools transition to USDA-compliant snacks in as seamless a way as possible. There is no need for schools to lose vending machine commissions or to have the headache of trying to figure this out on their own. We’ve worked with thousands of schools across the country and want to pay it forward by providing free resources on Smart Snacks in School.”
For more information on Smart Snacks in School, please visit SmartSnacksinSchool.com. For information on having healthy vending at a school location, please click “contact” on http://www.healthyvending.com or call 310.845.7745.
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About HUMAN Healthy Vending
HUMAN (Helping Unite Mankind And Nutrition) Healthy Vending’s mission is to make healthy food more convenient than junk food. HUMAN accomplishes this by placing high-tech and eco-friendly vending machines that only vend better-for-you foods and drinks, including fresh produce and locally-sourced foods, in schools, hospitals, gyms and corporate locations across the world. In addition to providing healthful food options, HUMAN machines provide nutrition education via high-definition LCD screens that display streaming videos and other digital content. HUMAN currently has more than 1,500 machines placed across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
HUMAN Healthy Vending has been ranked by Entrepreneur as one of its “Top 100 Brilliant Companies” and by Forbes as one of “America’s Most Promising Companies” (two years in a row).
HUMAN donates 10% of profits to charities that fight the causes of childhood obesity and malnutrition, with a predominate recipient of those funds being HUMAN’s non-profit arm, HUMAN Everywhere. HUMAN Everywhere’s mission is to leverage the power of social entrepreneurship to improve the nation’s collective health by increasing access to nutrition education and healthful foods while advocating for public policy that contributes to these goals.
Annabel Adams, HUMAN Healthy Vending, http://www.healthyvending.com, 562-852-3338, [email protected]
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