Seattle Requires Vending Machines on City Property to be Half-Healthy - The UltimateFatBurner Blog

Seattle Requires Vending Machines on City Property to be Half-Healthy

I don’t hit vending machines for snacks very often, but I’ve done it on rare occasions – usually when I’m at some highway rest stop out in the middle of nowhere (and there’s a fair amount of “nowhere” in Eastern Washington), and need something to tide me over until I hit civilization again.

This happens maybe once or twice a year. When it does, I nearly always choose a Snickers or a PayDay bar – thanks to the peanuts, they’re usually the healthiest things in the machine.

To put it another way, they’re the best of the worst.

Thus, I wouldn’t mind seeing this become a statewide (if not nationwide) trend…

Seattle City Council to require carrot sticks, tuna alongside chips in vending machines

The Seattle City Council voted today to require healthier vending machines on city property. The proposal by Councilmember Richard Conlin also has the support of the Mayor Mike McGinn. Under the new rules, at least half of the food in city vending machines will have to be healthy.

Public Health-Seattle and King County gets to define what’s healthy enough to qualify. Their guidelines  list carrot sticks, low-fat yogurt, string cheese and packets of tuna as examples of what people will find in a half-healthy vending machine.

Even with my sporadic use of the machines, I’d be happier if I could choose a packet of tuna and/or some string cheese vs. a Snickers.

Author: elissa

Elissa is a former research associate with the University of California at Davis, and the author/co-author of over a dozen articles published in scientific journals. Currently a freelance writer and researcher, Elissa brings her multidisciplinary education and training to her writing on nutrition and supplements.

1 Comment

  1. I’ve seen this trend here in Michigan. It seems now there are a few more “healthier” options in a lot of our vending machines. That is a good thing!

    Post a Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *