ABA: students move from carbonated soft drinks to sports drinks.

U.S. soft drinks manufacturers are delivering on their commitment to cut calories from beverages in schools, with a 41% fall reported after the first year of a three-year phase-in, the American Beverage Association said last week. However the industry has come under criticism as figures show consumption has shifted from full-calorie carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) to some extent to high-sugar sports drinks.

The U.S. soft drinks industry made a voluntary pledge last year to remove sugary soft drinks from a total 125,000 schools and replace them with lower-calorie, smaller-portion and more nutritious options over the course of three years. The guidelines allow bottlers to sell 100% juices, low-fat milk and bottled water to middle schools and these drinks plus diet sodas, low-calorie tea drinks and smaller sizes of sports drinks and enhanced waters to high schools.

One year on, it has compiled and published its first annual report on how well the National School Beverage Guidelines are being implemented. The progress report found that compared to the whole of 2004, the total calorie count of all beverages being shipped to schools during the 2006/07 school year fell by 41%, total beverage shipments fell 27%, while shipments of full-calorie soft drinks fell 45%. Consumption of the latter dropped from 12.5oz to 5.9oz (or half a can) per high school student per week and made up less than a third of total beverage sales in 2006/07 compared to just under a half in 2004. Shipments of water, including low-calorie fortified water, increased by 23% over the same period and increased their share of the product mix from 11.5% to 21.5%.

The figures show that shipments of full-sugar sport drinks fell by only 1.5%, while conversely sales of diet CSDs dropped by 20%, 100% juices by 25% and teas by 29%. Regular sports drinks made up 19% of the product mix, up from 13%, the share of diet CSDs and 100% juice remained flat. A third of contracts between bottlers and school districts complied with the guidelines, and should be closer to its 75% target by the start of the 2008/09 school year, the report said.

The report concluded that progress made so far has been encouraging. "Change is afoot in America's schools, and the beverage industry is working hard to keep the momentum going. While the progress made by this industry in the first year was substantial, the beverage industry remains committed to full implementation over the next few years.