Coca-Cola to stop drinks sales in secondary schools

At the end of this year, Coca-Cola will stop distributing its soft drinks to secondary schools in Belgium and Luxembourg. This was announced by Walloon MP Jean-Philippe Florent (Ecolo). ​

Coca-Cola announced it would remove vending machines from schools to meet the public's "evolving demands for self-regulation". Although the supply of sugary drinks had already been stopped, products such as Diet Coke were still being sold.

The Vlaamse Scholierenkoepel (VSK), the officially recognised voice of secondary school pupils in Flanders, believes removing vending machines from secondary schools is a sensible decision. However, it also points out that little will change in practice.

"Coca-Cola is now marketing the decision well but, in practice, little will change, as many schools have already stopped offering sodas," says VSK president Mauro Michielsen. "The company is following a social trend that politics and schools have already embraced."

Florent told La Dernière Heure: "The next step is to stop the sale of chocolate bars and crisps. The idea is not to ban young people from eating them, but to remind them that one of the tasks of schools is to provide a healthy environment for pupils."

^{© ​ BELGA PHOTO SISKA GREMMELPREZ}