Junk Food Standards for Keiki Generation

Right: Pirates Booty, a bag of chips surveyed by Youth News


A new nutritional standard for children ages 2 through 17, was proposed by the FTC, FDA, CSC, and the USDA on Wednesday, June 7. The guidelines that make up the standard require that high sugar and high fat products intended for consumption and marketed to children must also contain food.
The standards were first presented in a meeting December 2009 with the hopes they would be finalized by February or March. Although the USDA helped create the guidelines it was the only agency that did not sign off on the proposal. For many years the food industry has avoided change that would require a harsher standard for the products they want to sell to your kids. The guidelines consist of three standards. This a brief summary of the proposed standards:

Standard I:
Foods excluded for Standards II and III
-The following foods are part of a healthy diet and are allowed to be marketed to children with out meeting standards II and III
*Note: 100% is defined as no added nutritive or non-nutritive sweeteners or functional ingredients

Standard II:
Meaningful contribution to a healthful diet
-Foods marketed to children must have a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet

100% fruit and fruit juices in any form
100% vegetable and vegetable juices in any form; cannot exceed 140mg of sodium per RACC*
100% non-fat and low-fat yogurt
100% whole grain
100% water

Option A:
Food must contain at least 50% by weight of one or more of the following: fruits, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free yogurt and milk, fish, lean poultry, nuts, seeds, or beans.

Option B:
Food must contain one or more of the following per RACC
0.5 cups fruit/fruit juice
0.6 cups vegetable/vegetable juice
0.75 oz. equal to 100% whole grain
0.75 cups milk/yogurt; 1 oz. natural cheese; 1.5 oz. processed cheese
1.5 oz. lean meat or fish; lean poultry
0.3 cups cooked dry beans
0.7 oz. nuts or seeds
1 egg or egg equivalent

Standard III:
Nutrients To Limit
-Foods marketed to children must not contain more than the following amounts of saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium.

Saturated Fat- 1g or less per RACC; no more than 15% of calories
Trans Fat- 0g per RACC
Sugar- no more than 13g of added sugar per RACC
Sodium- no more than 200mg per portion
*For foods with a small RACC (30 g or less or 2 tablespoons or less), the criteria refers to the amount 50g of food

Youth News purchased a bag of cheddar puffs called “Pirates Booty,” choosing from a variety of flavors including: veggie, barbeque, sour cream/onion, New York pizza, and sea salt/vinegar. These chips are made with all natural ingredients and are gluten and trans fat free. The ingredients consist of corn meal and rice, along with vegetable oil, aged cheddar cheese, whey and buttermilk. Because it meets the new standard, this snack would be considered safe to market to people ages 2-17.
We conducted a taste test among the workers at the Keaau Youth Business Center, all of whom were between the ages of 15-19.
Seven out of 10 people liked the healthy snack. “I love these chips; they’re the bomb” said Jasmine. But there were a few who didn’t take to the Pirates Booty complaining that they really couldn’t taste anything at all.