LAUSD TOASTING NEW BEVERAGE DEAL.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

Los Angeles public-school students will get a bevy of new ``healthy'' beverages to choose from under a five-year, $26 million deal with Pepsi that is considered the largest districtwide contract of its kind in the nation.

Three years into its ban on selling soda on campuses, the Los Angeles Unified School District expects to roll out more than 870 vending machines at middle and high schools offering drinks including Aquafina water, Dole 100% Orange Juice and Gatorade.

While district officials are touting the contract as an innovative way to meet the healthy-beverage guidelines adopted in 2002 - and to reintroduce revenues lost by schools after the ban of soft drinks and junk foods - the move will come at a bit of a price for students.

Drinks will generally be several ounces bigger, but they also will cost $1.25 - a quarter more than they do now.

``The schools were suffering from the lack of revenues, but they will not be struggling anymore. We'll see revenues brought back to the school immediately,'' said board member Marlene Canter on Wednesday at Hollywood High School, where the district announced the deal. ``But more importantly, this is a health issue. This will take us light years ahead ... to set the tone for the nation.''

Schools are projected to make $5.4 million annually, or $26 million over five years, said Michael Eugene, business manager for the LAUSD. The money will be used for student activities such as the prom and for athletic uniforms.

The district's net profit will jump from about $10 per student to nearly $16. Pepsi officials would not comment on their projected income from the deal.

The contract with Pepsi Bottling Group, approved by the board Tuesday, will go into effect July 1, and the company has 60 days to roll out the vending machines at schools that opt to participate.

There are 50 high schools and 74 middle schools in the district. Previously, schools negotiated contracts individually with such companies as Coca-Cola, Shasta and the 7-Up Bottling Co.

``I say it's about time. We need some healthy drinks. I play sports and sometimes water ain't enough. Orange juice, that's good for me,'' said Hollywood High junior Reuben Cannon, 17, who's on the football, basketball, baseball and track teams.

The contract is the first step in changing student lifestyles, said former L.A. Lakers guard Norm Nixon, a partner in Healthy Body Products, which will supply the vending machines in the district.

``Once you change what they're drinking and eating at all schools, kids will no longer have choices that are unhealthy,'' Nixon said. ``You'll have a whole new generation that eats and drinks healthy.''

An estimated 22 percent of California schoolchildren are overweight, including as many as 60 percent in some LAUSD schools, district officials said.

But health experts have questioned how good the so-called healthy drinks - such as the 15.2-ounce to 20-ounce fruit juices and Gatorade that will be offered - are for students.

``The problem with juices is they're pretty high in sugar and the volume they give you is probably five times the volume recommended per day, and Gatorade is water plus food coloring, fruit flavoring, sugar and salt,'' said Naomi Neufeld, a Los Angeles pediatric endocrinologist who specializes in the treatment of overweight children.

Ideally, children should only have water and three servings of skim milk per day, she said.

``Sell water, sell apples, sell milk and ask parents for money to support the team sports,'' she said. ``It's a laudable goal to prevent childhood obesity, but selling Gatorade and these juices is not the answer.''

But LAUSD officials said the new centralized contract offers the best balance of providing students healthy alternatives and a revenue source to support programs and activities.

The contract marks the beginning of an overhaul of food-services contracts at schools, with LAUSD now looking into a districtwide healthy snacks contract, said Eugene.

``It's aligning the marketplace with the vision of the school districts. When we see a contract like this, it says the marketplace is responsive to the demand for healthy products,'' he said.

The LAUSD was the first school district in California to ban the sale of sodas.

Coke and Pepsi, faced with declining school-contract prospects with their cola brands, were fierce competitors for the current LAUSD contract.

Coke had offered the district a $2 million signing bonus; Pepsi offered $1.8 million.

Coke and Pepsi have shifted to their ``healthy'' noncola brands to keep their finger on the pulse of the coveted youth demographic, said John Craven, editor of BevNET.com, an online trade publication for the soft drink industry.

``It's one way to answer the backlash by school systems and others making claims of obesity, by coming in with healthier products,'' Craven said.

``That might be their ticket to capturing the demographic they had lost to Vitamin Water and Red Bull,'' he said. ``They hadn't been able to reach those demographics properly and this definitely gives them direct access to a captive audience.''

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: LAUSD

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