City Vending Machines Could get Healthier

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The City of San Antonio is in the process of developing a new snack vending contract and have incorporated the Healthy Vending Guidelines into the contract.

In 2002, the Health Collaborative developed and launched the “Fit City Healthy Vending Guidelines” which guided San Antonio’s healthy vending efforts for nearly a decade. In 2011 the Health Collaborative and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District came together to update and strengthen the guidelines in response to increasing obesity and diabetes rates throughout the community. They engaged a coalition of community and public health experts, dietitians, and food distributors to design the new “San Antonio Healthy Vending Guidelines”. The new guidelines include a set of specific nutrition criteria; as well as recommendations for organizations to use when issuing RFPs (Request for Proposal), monitoring the vending content, and developing policies for health and wellness. San Antonio is working to be a healthier community by ensuring that all state-owned vending machines follow the healthy vending guidelines.