September 4, 2008
Vending machines offer healthier snacks
The next time a snack attack occurs at 3 p.m., the nearest campus vending machine will have options to help satisfy hunger cravings without expanding any waistlines. WorkLife Programs, Food Stores, the Wellness Ambassadors and the Student Wellness Office have teamed up to add healthier snacks to the machines on the West Lafayette campus.
Healthier choices such as baked potato chips, sunflower kernels and granola bars are designated by green spiral clips in front of each snack.
"It's inevitable that vending machines will be available around campus," says Amber Simons, worklife wellness specialist at WorkLife Programs. "We wanted to provide more options so that when people were standing in front of the machines trying to make a decision, they could choose from healthier items."
The snacks are part of the NAC For Snack program offered by AVI Foodsystems, the contracted vendor for snack vending on campus. NAC stands for nutrition, awareness and choices.
Shelly Cochran, director of Food Stores, says the goal is to have 30 percent of the items in each machine fall into the healthier category.
NAC for Snack selections must meet the following six criteria for each serving:
-- Be 220 or fewer calories.
-- Contain no more than 35 percent calories from fat (nuts excluded).
-- Contain no more than 1.5 grams of saturated fat.
-- Have no trans fat.
-- Contain no more than 400 milligrams of sodium.
-- Contain no more than 35 percent sugar by weight (100 percent fruit items excluded).
A snack may also qualify if it meets four of the six criteria and has at least 10 percent of the daily value of vitamins A, C, E, iron, calcium, protein or fiber.
WorkLife Programs' registered dietitians reviewed and approved the NAC for Snack items that are being offered in campus vending machines. Each quarter, AVI will send a list of new snacks that again will be vetted by WorkLife.
"We want to stress that we're not suggesting that people should start using vending machines on a regular basis," Simons says. "But if they're going to use the machines, now there will be healthier options available."
Additional resources are available to help people make healthy snack selections and lead a healthier lifestyle at www.purdue.edu/worklife.
-- From the Aug. 28 edition of Inside Purdue.