Campbell, Dole Audition For School Lunch Menu

Schwan's Food, Campbell Soup, Dole and others next week will audition new entries before the School Nutrition Assn., which has a major influence on which items will show up in school lunches.

Among the items being pitched at the advocacy group's annual conference in Los Angeles are whole grain pizzas, multigrain pastas, organic juices, fruit-sweetened cookies, soy protein tortillas and frozen fruit flurries.

The SNA, which is a nonprofit organization and claims 55,000 members, has a large say in what items appear in the federally funded National School Lunch Program.

With such large contracts at stake—95% of schools take part in the School Lunch Program—companies like Schwan's, Campbell, Dole and others have hired nutritional professionals with school administrator backgrounds and have reformulated products with less sodium (like Campbell's Healthy Request soups), fats, sugar and trans-fats, and cut back on portion sizes (Kraft's 100-calorie snacks). They also have added healthier ingredients like whole grains to pizzas and breading on chicken nuggets (the top two favorite school lunch items).

The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980 with 10%, or nine million, of children ages 6-19 years considered obese, per the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. "There's a lot more attention being focused now on kid obesity," said Ruth Jonen, president of the SNA in Alexandria, Va. "We want to do our part. But healthy eating habits must first be instilled at home."

In a climate that's hypersensitive to the child obesity epidemic, food companies have attempted to make their school lunch offerings healthier. Federal requirements state that no more than 30% of calories served to kids may come from fat and less than 10% may come from saturated fats. Also, the products must provide one-third of the recommended daily allowance for protein, and other nutrients and vitamins. Yet many agree with Johen that school lunches are only part of the overall picture.

"There isn't a day that goes by that we're not being reminded in the media about kids being fat," said Mary Begalle, national marketing director at Schwan's Food Service, Marshall, Minn., a longtime pro-vider of frozen pizzas. "But it's a war that has to be waged on many fronts, not just schools."

In January this year, parents groups—including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood—teamed with the Center for Science in the Public Interest and threatened to sue Kellogg and Viacom over the marketing of products like SpongeBob SquarePants Wild Bubble Berry Pop-Tarts.

Another big challenge at schools is getting kids to eat more fruits and veggies. Dole will attempt to offer a fix with its grab 'n go bowls of naturally sweet fruits, sorbet-like Fruit Flurries and Parfaits in sizes that meet the USDA's new food pyramid guidance for one daily fruit serving.

In addition to being healthier, packaging for many of the items advocates physical exercise. For example, Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish PhysEdibles, made with whole grains, shows the mascot on-pack playing various sports like football and basketball.

"We took one of our biggest equities, Goldfish Crackers, to promote the importance of exercise as well as make it a fun food for kids," said Lynn Burke, school business manager for Campbell's away from home foodservice unit. She was hired two years ago from a school district where she managed the foodservice.

For all the clamor about healthier school lunches, Begalle remembers an abysmal failure. "We tried out a veggie pizza. But it didn't go over well," she said. "We keep trying new varieties like a new fresh-baked self-rising pizza in our Smart Pizza line. Sssh! Don't tell them it's made with whole grain."