The sins of the father (or mother) shouldn't be visited on the child, so how is it that 79% (SEVENTY-NINE PERCENT) of the diet soft drinks tested by the FDA from '95 to '01 were contaminated with benzene levels above fed. safety standards. Benzene is a known carcinogen.

And what about artificial food colorings--right off the bat, I know that FD & C yellow #5 (tartrazine) has been linked to hyperactive behavioral disorders in children. Tartrazine is commonly found in prepared breakfast cereals, gelatin deserts, dry drink powders, candy, ice cream, spaghetti, canned fruit, yogurt, bakery products, pudding, ect., with even higher levels found in Fruit Loops, Doritos, ect.

Tywardreath School in Cornwall, UK, imposed a tempory ban on tartrazine in school lunches for a week in 2001. The headmaster, Gordon Walker, noted that the children were calmer, "I have noticed a change in children over that time, in terms of behavior and concentration ... I think food additives have a lot to do with it."

In fact, one study found that such behavioral changes parallel dosage levels of tartrazine; both the magnitude and duration of adverse behavioral effects increased with the dye's dosage levels. When the children were not given the chemical, however, they all behaved normally (Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 125, p. 691).

So..., it's no big surprise that in the US approximately 600,000 toddlers (age 5 and under) get a daily dose of organophosphate pesticides that exceeds the acute "safe" dose (an analysis of 1998 US Dept. of Agri.'s Pesticide Data Program on Pesticide Residues, Charles M. Benbrook, PhD).

And so..., shouldn't we be just a little bit scared (or a whole lot) about how last month the House of Reps. approved a positively evil food products bill which would wipe out state laws that mandate local inspections and require safety labels on food products to warn consumers about everything from mercury in fish to pesticides in vegetables. The bill was backed by the food industry and supported by several key lawmakers whose family members or close friends are food industry lobbyists!!!

If it were up to the parents, there would be only healthy food choices in the schools.

Another reason to homeschool . . . control of one's child(ren)'s diet.

When I was a child, the only food available was in the cafeteria, and then only at lunchtime. There were no vending machines. There was the opportunity at my elementary school to purchase an ice cream bar, but only after showing an empty cafeteria tray to the ice cream case monitor. (I made a good living at the time, eating other people's spinach for a fee!)

In my high school, one could buy a candy bar or a donut from the bookstore--but only during a limited time period.

It would not be that hard to put good nutritious food in schools. See "Supersize Me" for suggestions!

Are tater tots considered junk food too?

Soda ban? Definitely. Fries too. But lay off the tots.

First of all schools have no business banning junk food, though I think it is perfectly acceptable to refuse to sell it on school grounds. The HS where I teach has just finally stepped up and pulled out all the hi sugar drink machines, because they encourage unhealthy eating habits. Logic dictates that the rest is up to the parents, and unfiortunately the FDA, which in the current administration is worse than useless.

After 16 years of dealing with adolescents, which I greatly enjoy by the way, all I can say is that the best way to get them to DO something is to tell them they can't. Our eating habits are a self-destructive, corporate greed driven phenomenon, and unless we start dealing with those issues at their source, we will continue to produce "public policy" pretense like the laws that criminalize smoking in public places while continuing to allow tobacco companies to facilitate the assisted suicides of 150,000 Americans each year.

We need to move beyond the paternalistic "because I said so" basis of law making and start dealing with the companies that manufacture, distribute and aggressively market this stuff. We are NOT a Capitalist nation, we are a Democratic one. Let's start the ball rolling by overturning the ridiculous Court "precedent" that allowed Corporations to be recognized under the law as entitled to all the Constitutional rights of individuals without any of the tax liabilities or responsibilities to even common decency.

Time to stop treating the symptoms and go after the disease.