Recognizing that the health of our nation’s military personnel is 
important to national security, military officials think it’s time for a health upgrade in the vending machines that service men and women patronize while on duty. The military has long served as a role model for health and wellness for society at large, so the renewed interest in healthy vending marks a positive development.
Healthy Vending NY applauds the military’s efforts to improve the health of our service men and women. We stand ready to assist the military in these efforts.
There are several initiatives the military is exploring to improve healthy options in military locations.
Captain Kimberly Elenberg, director of the U.S. Public Health Service’s medical readiness and training program, said she wants to see healthier choices available, both in vending machines and in foodservice operations on military bases. The average soldier only eats one serving of fruit or vegetables every three to six weeks, Elenberg said.
Twenty two percent of the service members and their families are obese. This number sounds okay when you consider 34 percent of the overall U.S. population is obese, but there’ still work to be done.
Elenberg, speaking at the annual U.S. Army conference, said her program is reconsidering its contracting practices for onsite vending and foodservice, according to military.com.
The move to improve nutritious options on military bases is also part of the U.S. Defense Department’s Healthy Base Initiative. This is a study to examine the habits and health of service members and their families at 14 military bases worldwide. The study measures service personnel’s access to healthy food.
In addition to improving the healthy options in vending machines, military officials want to make immediate changes to meal options on bases, such as asking restaurants to display calorie counts on menus.
As important as all these initiatives are to the wellbeing of service personnel, the vending and foodservice operations on military bases need to be provided in a financially sustainable manner. The military needs sustainable services that align with its health priorities. Professional vending and foodservice companies provide these services.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options at your New York City workplace, school or military base, contact your vending partner, Healthy Vending NY at 917.572.3671 to discuss your customized break room needs.
KIND To Cut Added Sugar Across Its Fruit & Nut Line in New York City
KIND, one of the most visible names in healthy snacks, is reducing 
added sugar across its original Fruit & Nut bar portfolio. This effort, which started in late 2014, is part of KIND’s brand promise to offer wholesome and tasty snack choices.
Beginning in late spring, KIND Fruit & Nut bars like Apple Cinnamon & Pecan and Almonds & Apricots in Yogurt, will contain between 15 and 50 percent less added sugar, compared to the prior recipes. The recipe update will be made to seven flavors across KIND’s Fruit & Nut Bar portfolio.
KIND was able to identify ways to lower sugar without compromising taste, such as swapping sweetened fruit with unsweetened fruit and reducing added sugar in certain ingredients like yogurt coatings. The result allows the flavor from the fruit, such as apricot and apple, and the nuts to take center stage. Like all KIND snacks, Fruit & Nut Bars contain no artificial sweeteners and no added sugar alcohols.
“At KIND we’re constantly challenging ourselves to do better. Last year our team revisited the line that started it all for KIND, our Fruit & Nut Bars, looking for ways to keep improving on a snack that was already packed with wholesome, delicious ingredients,” said KIND CEO and founder Daniel Lubetzky. “I’m so proud of our team. For us, this is much more than a recipe update, it’s about honoring our history and continuing to fulfill our brand promise of making snacks that are both nutritious and great-tasting.”
KIND’s Fruit & Nut line disrupted the snack bar category in 2004 with its nutrient-dense ingredients like premium nuts and pieces of fruit, made visible through transparent packaging.
“Eating sugar in excess, as many Americans currently do, is unhealthy, particularly when it is in the form of added sugar or artificial sweeteners versus the naturally-occurring sugar that you find in fruit,” said David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and senior nutrition advisor to KIND. “I’ve been a longtime advocate of KIND snacks because they contain wholesome ingredients like fruit, nuts and seeds and never use artificial sweeteners or added sugar alcohols.”
The number one ingredient in all KIND Fruit & Nut Bars is nuts, and the bars have a low glycemic index. Low glycemic foods generally help maintain blood sugar levels that are already in the normal range.
Lowering the added sugar in KIND Fruit & Nut Bars is only the latest in KIND’s ongoing effort to create snacks that are both wholesome and delicious in New York City and across the country:
• In 2012, KIND introduced the best-selling line KIND Nuts & Spices, whole nut snack bars flavored with delicious spices for a seemingly indulgent taste – and have 5g of sugar or less, which is 50 percent less sugar per bar compared to the average nutrition bar
• In 2014, KIND debuted STRONG & KIND®, its bold, savory snack line featuring 10g of protein and containing no more than 6g of sugar per bar
• Also in 2014, the company expanded its line of KIND Healthy Grains® Clusters, adding two options with 6g of sugar or less, Raspberry Clusters with Chia Seeds (5g of sugar per 1/2 cup serving) and Banana Nut Clusters (6g of sugar per 1/2 cup serving)
KIND is also taking an active voice in public policy to helping advance better practices within the food industry to improve public health. This includes supporting a proposal from the Food and Drug Administration to include added sugars on the Nutrition Facts Panel, so that it will be easier for people to understand the amount of added sugar in the foods that they eat.
All KIND snacks are made from wholesome ingredients, are gluten-free and are made from non-genetically engineered ingredients. KIND currently offers seven different snack lines including: KIND® Fruit & Nut and KIND® PLUS, two lines of delicious whole nut & fruit bars; KIND® Nuts & Spices, a line of whole nut & spice bars that have 5g of sugar or less; KIND Healthy Grains® Clusters, delicious blends of five super grains; KIND Healthy Grains® Bars, a line of crunchy and chewy granola bars; and STRONG & KIND®, a line of bold, savory bars featuring 10g of protein. KIND’s newest innovation – KIND® BREAKFAST – are soft-baked with a crispy outside, providing sustained energy from whole grains.
Through its social mission – known as the KIND Movement – KIND is committed to inspiring kindness through acts big and small. It fulfills this commitment through programming like KIND Causes, which helps people bring their socially-impactful ideas to life with monthly grants. Looking for healthy break room service at your New York City workplace? Call Healthy Vending NY today at 917.572.3671 for a free no-obligaton consultation of your break room needs.
New York Employers Upgrade Workplace Amenities Like Free Snacks And Other Perks
New York businesses that are serious about keeping their 
employees happy at work have more options today than ever before. Providing food and refreshments at work remains one of the most important benefits New York employers can provide their workers. Employers should, however, consider all possible ways to keep workers happy on the job.
Over the last two years, employers have focused more on workplace amenities, reports The Wall Street Journal. Many New York workplaces are offering free snacks and drinks and some are going far beyond that with places employees can relax and recharge. Such amenities keep employees happy and they keep top-performers from changing jobs.
As companies try to put themselves on a path to faster growth, some are mimicking the workplace practices—and lavish perks—at technology behemoths like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.
In industries as varied as insurance, electrical contracting and auto loans, managers are spending on office upgrades and amenities like free food and comped vacations, claiming that such trappings elevate jobs in even the more unglamorous industries. This helps to recruit employees and to convince high performers to stay.
John Bremen, a managing director with human-resources consulting firm Towers Watson, has seen squash courts and lap pools at some companies, and at one bank, rest areas for employees complete with sofas and soothing music—something that wouldn’t have occurred a decade ago.
Alterra Chief Executive David Royce says the writings of Zappos.com Inc. CEO Tony Hsieh prompted his focus on employee happiness, which Hsieh claims breeds corporate success. Royce spent hours scrolling through photos of tech-company offices online, concluding “it’s not fair that they have all the fun.”
Royce says he now invests more than 10% of Alterra’s profit in food, events and amenities each year, and claims it is paying off. Employees hailing from competing pest-control companies increase their sales by 70% in their first full year at Alterra, and 96% stay at the company for at least a full year.
Tech giants have long used recreational workspaces and generous perks to impress recruits and set themselves apart from typical corporate offices. Workplace designers like Primo Orpilla, whose design firm Studio O+A has created offices for Uber Technologies Inc. and Yelp Inc., say they are hearing from finance and contracting firms looking for similarly eye-catching amenities—even as some Silicon Valley companies play down some of the wackier touches.
Scott Lesizza, a founding principal of WorkWell Partners, which sells office furnishings, says about half the clients he meets cite Google as a model for their workplaces.
The New York office culture is changing, slowly but surely. The economy, the need for a work/life balance, rising costs and stretched budgets all influence the culture of an office. Where some companies will offer employees many perks, others will offer few and try to compensate in other ways.
Healthy Vending is experiencing this metamorphosis in New York. Healthy Vending can meet the future needs with trendier offerings and ways to help locations offer affordable, yet quality perks.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Convenience Drives Consumer Breakfast Choices in New York City
Health experts have long noted that breakfast is the most important 
meal of the day. Many New York workers are aware of this, but because they are rushed for time in the morning, they often skip breakfast. The availability of healthy breakfast choices has increased in recent years, and this makes the work place vending machine an important benefit for busy New Yorkers who want to eat breakfast.
A 2012 study entitled, “The Benefits of Breakfast Consumption to Combat Obesity and Diabetes in Young People” found that skipping breakfast was strongly associated with obesity. It reported that young people eat breakfast regularly have a higher-quality diet, eat fewer unhealthy snacks and have better body weight management compared with those who skip breakfast.
According to Mintel, the U.S. breakfast foods category is set to increase 26 percent between 2012 and 2017. Consumers have noticed the importance of breakfast and they have appealed for convenient, healthful who and tasteful products to start their day. But for many New Yorkers, getting breakfast has been difficult due to time constraints.
A new study by Instantly indicates more than half of Americans still do not consistently eat breakfast every day of the week. Twelve percent rarely eat breakfast at all. Those who rarely eat breakfast cite lack of time is the second most-selected reason for not doing so, next to not having an appetite in the morning.
Less than half of the respondents (47%) eat breakfast daily and only 25% eat it three or more times a week.
When asked which meal they are most likely to skip, 40% answered breakfast, the most common answer.
“In the U.S., with longer work days that break out of the 9-to-5 model, timing and convenience has become a deciding factor in what many Americans eat in the morning,” said Andy Jolls, chief marketing officer at Instantly. “But that doesn’t mean demand for breakfast foods is low. If companies can provide breakfast in a format that accommodates busy schedules while appealing to taste and nutrition, they could see significant incremental growth.”
When time is a constraint, consumers are likely to grab something on the go (43%) or skip the meal all together (21%). Sixty three percent of respondents eating on the go said they might grab something from home, while 45% will go to a drive-thru restaurant and 31% will stop at a convenience store or gas station.
Only 14% said they would get something at work.
When choosing breakfast, the biggest consideration is taste, cited by 31%; followed closely by health, cited by 30%; followed by convenience, 21%; cost 9%; quality, 6%; and portion size, 2%.
The low number of people getting breakfast at work likely reflects the perception that tasty and healthy options are not available at work. This is where a service like Healthy Vending can provide an important benefit to New York workers.
When we announced Healthy Vending, the positive consumer reaction in New York City confirmed everything we believed about the demand for these products. One of the most unique aspects about our company is that we provide these healthy products conveniently for consumers.
Healthy Vending provides a service that will allow New York City locations to offer their employees and/or patrons the ability to remain on-premises for their nutrition and energy needs.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Good News For New Yorkers: Major Food Brands Are Jumping On The Healthy Bandwagon
New York consumers, like people everywhere, are calling for 
healthier food, and major brands can no longer ignore the call. In the past few months, several major brands – General Mills, Campbell Soup, Kellogg and Nestle – announced they are removing unhealthy additives.
This is good news for New York employers who have known for years that employees want to follow healthy lifestyles. As major food brands remove unhealthy additives, New York employers will have even more choices to help employees follow a healthy diet.
This month, General Mills Cereals committed to removing artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from all of its cereals in response to consumers’ changing preferences. More than 60 percent of General Mills cereals are already without artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources.
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen on behalf of General Mills, 49 percent of households are making an effort to avoid artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources.
General Mills Cereals plans to have more than 90 percent of its portfolio free of artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources by the end of 2016. Trix will now use ingredients like fruit and vegetable juices and spice extracts such as turmeric and annatto to achieve the fun red, yellow, orange and purple colors.
In August, Kellogg announced Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies will soon be all-natural. Kellogg said it is aiming to stop using artificial colors and flavors in its cereal and snack bars by the end of 2018. The company said 75 percent of its cereals in North America were being made without artificial colors and more than half without artificial flavors.
In July, Campbell Soup said it would stop adding monosodium glutamate to its condensed soups for children and increase its organic offerings as part of a broader strategy to cater to changing consumer tastes.
Campbell also said it would remove artificial colors and flavors from nearly all of its North American products by July 2018, and that it would move away from using high fructose corn syrup in certain products, such as its line of Pepperidge Farm fresh breads, by the end of fiscal 2017. Most new products it is launching in 2016 also will not contain corn syrup.
Additionally, Campbell will launch new organic products, such as purees under its Plum line for kids and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers made with organic wheat.
In June, Nestlé pledged to improve the ingredient quality and 
nutritional profile of some of its most popular frozen pizza and snack brands without affecting taste. Nestlé announced the improvements, which encompass more than 250 products across six brands in the U.S.
By the end of 2015, Nestlé will have removed artificial flavors from every product within these brands. It will have reduced sodium by 10 percent across the entire portfolio of six pizza and snack brands compared to 2013 levels. It will incorporate guidance tools on packaging across these brands to help educate consumers on choosing appropriate portion sizes and the importance of eating vegetables and fruits as part of a balanced plate.
Healthy Vending applauds these companies for listening to consumers and making it easier for New Yorkers to follow healthy lifestyles.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Top 10 Employer Wellness Programs: How They Can Help You in New York City
Every smart New York employer wants healthy employees. To help 
New York businesses keep employees healthy, corporate wellness programs have grown into a multi-billion dollar business. Healthy Vending works with some of these wellness programs. Such programs offer nutrition education, preventive care, health screenings, gym membership incentives and more.
As a New York health partner, Healthy Vending wants to share some highlights about 10 top corporate wellness programs in the country.
Snacknation, an online snack service provider, recently listed what it considers the nation’s top corporate wellness programs. By reviewing how these companies help employees follow healthy lifestyles, employers can gain a better sense of what a structured wellness plan will provide. New York employers who want to have a healthy work environment will certainly want to know about the approaches these companies take. Here are summaries of the top 10 wellness programs. More information is available on their websites.
1) Marino Wellness (marinowellness.com)
Marino Wellness has three levels of corporate wellness programs for different sizes of companies. These three different plans will cover just about any size budget. Options include annual health risk assessments, monthly massage days, personal coaching, workshops and education initiatives.
2) EXOS|MediFit (mediafit.com)
EXOS|MediFit designs custom fitness centers that are eco-friendly. In addition to nutrition education and physical therapy, it offers a tactical program to help injured military personnel get back to duty, and a sports program to help athletes improve performance.
3) Wellness Corporate Solutions (wellnesscorporatesolutions.com)
Wellness Corporate Solutions provides health fairs and health risk assessments for employees. It also offers eight week-long wellness campaigns to challenge employees to strive harder in a work environment. Employers can download a form and get a closer at employee incentive ideas that can turn good health intentions into results.
4) Kinema Fitness (kinemafitness.com)
Kinema Fitness’ integrated platform – online secured software portal – allows employees to create and access their own account to view and sign-up for classes, communicate with other employees, and log fitness and nutrition tips. This online platform supports the wellness programs being implemented on-site at the client location.
5) Premise Health (premisehealth.com)
Premise Health is an on-site health care provider. It does more than just cover basic health needs; it also offers chiropractic and acupuncture services. The company focuses on improving patient, provider and client experiences. It invests in technologies that sustainably engage patients, improve the efficiency and satisfaction of providers, and allows employers to track outcomes.
6) TotalWellness Health (totalwellnesshealth.com)
TotalWellness’s goals are threefold: 1) Lower healthcare costs, 2) Prevent diseases, 3) Create corporate wellness solutions to foster a safer and more productive work environment. Services include program design and consultation, health risk assessment and reporting, corporate health fairs, health screenings, nurse counseling, on-site flu shot clinics, health education, and a wellness portal.
7) WorkStride (workstride.com)
While it is not typically considered a corporate wellness company, WorkStride helps employers recognize and reward behaviors to improve employee wellness. The software platform powers recognition, incentives, and reward programs. The solution makes it easy to highlight good deeds, compensate great work, and share authentic stories that reinforce a good direction.
8) Fitbit (fitbit.com)
Many people know Fitbit as a tiny wristwatch-like device that helps people reach personal fitness goals. Fitbit also provides corporate wellness programs, helping people lead healthier, more active lives by empowering them with data, inspiration and guidance to reach their goals. The platform combines connected health and fitness devices with software and services to help people become healthier.
9) Provant Health (provanthealth.com)
Provant Health partners with businesses to improve employees’ health while supporting employers with their healthcare affordability agenda. Provant’s Life+ Program combines personalized “high touch” services with social networking tools that link rewards to healthy behaviors and outcomes.
10) Marathon Health (marathon-health.com)
Marathon Health offers onsite healthcare, primary care services, preventative care, chronic condition coaching, occupational health care, ancillary services and more. Outreach efforts include healthy food drives to benefit local food shelters, educating middle and elementary school students about health and wellness, supporting Special Olympics, and providing free blood-pressure checks for seniors.
Healthy Vending encourages New York employers to engage in corporate wellness programs. Healthy Vending partners with New York employers by only carrying those products that are part of what most consumers consider to be a healthy diet.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Gallup Poll Finds More Consumers Have Healthier Eating Habits; Healthy Vending Helps New Yorkers Meet Their Goals
Consumers in New York and elsewhere are following healthier diets, 
according to a recent Gallup Poll. The poll found consumers are more likely to avoid soda than 14 other foods, including sugar and fat. At least six in 10 U.S. adults say they are trying to steer clear of soda altogether.
This is good news for everyone in New York. When people follow healthier diets, they live longer and they are more productive. As a result, everyone wins. Employers pay less for health insurance. Government spends less of our tax dollars on health care. Taxpayers face fewer tax increases to pay for health care costs.
It is a drastic change from 15 years ago. Consumers are far more likely today (61%) than in 2002 (41%) to say they are avoiding soda.
Likewise, the percentage of who actively include soda in their diet has dropped since 2002, from 36% to 22%.
It is not only regular soda consumers are avoiding. They are also avoiding diet soda out of concern for artificial sweeteners. In this year’s poll, Gallup asked half of the respondents about diet soda and the other half about regular soda. The results were nearly identical, with 61% saying they avoid regular soda and 62% saying the same for diet soda.
Doctors advise that lower-calorie and natural beverages, such as skim milk or water, are healthier choices than soda.
The poll also found consumers have become more likely to avoid sugar. In 2002, 43% were avoiding sugar compared to 50% in 2015.
In addition, consumers have recognized the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables. The Gallup Poll reports that at least nine in 10 consumers try to include both fruits and vegetables in their diet. At least three in four try to include chicken and fish in their diet. Nutrition experts often recommend chicken and fish to help with heart health, in lieu of beef and other red meat.
Healthy Vending applauds the progress New Yorkers are making in following healthier lifestyles.
But there is still work to do. The vast majority of consumers in New York and elsewhere say they are trying to follow healthier eating habits. But they are not always able to meet their goals, hard as they may try. One reason is that the healthy choices are not always readily available. This is especially true in today’s New York, where workers are often eating on the run.
We launched Healthy Vending in 2000 to help New Yorkers who wanted to maintain healthy diets and consume less calories. One of the most unique aspects about our company is that we provide these healthy products conveniently for consumers. Healthy Vending only carries those products that are part of what most consumers consider to be a healthy diet.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
At Long Last: Obesity Rates Start To Fall, But More Needs To Be Done In New York City
Better eating habits are starting to make a difference in New York 
City and the rest of America. For the first time in decades, obesity rates have leveled off for adults and school aged children, according to a recent New York Times data analysis. For younger children, obesity has actually declined. The amount of full calorie soda consumed has fallen by 25 percent since the late 1990s.
What accounts for this good news? Health experts say people have started to realize they were consuming too many calories.
The government organized public health campaigns in response to reports showing obesity was taking its toll on the American population. “I think people are hearing the message, and diet is slowly improving,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
This is a major piece of good news for New York consumers. Healthy Vending applauds the work that the scientific community, public service agencies and nutritionists have done to reverse the obesity epidemic. The improvement is the result of decades of hard work.
In 1999, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a paper in The Journal of the American Medical Association that turned into something of a blockbuster. The paper illustrated worsening obesity rates in the 1980s and 1990s in all 50 states.
Shortly afterward, then surgeon general Dr. David Satcher issued a report — “Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.” This 2001 report summarized the evidence that obesity was a risk factor for several chronic diseases. He said controlling children’s weight should be a priority to prevent the onset of obesity-related illnesses.
We launched Healthy Vending in 2000 to support New York consumers who wanted to maintain healthy diets and consume less calories. Healthy Vending became one of the companies committed to the battle against obesity.
Gradually, our message began to take hold.
By 2003, 60 percent of Americans said they wanted to lose weight, according to the Gallup Organization, up from 52 percent in 1990 and 35 percent in the 1950s.
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, required chain restaurants to publish the calorie content of their meals. The government also required healthier school lunches.
Beverage companies began marketing diet drinks and invested in new products with less calories, including iced teas and flavored water.
There is still work to do. Kevin Hall, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, estimated that for Americans to return to the body weights of 1978 by 2020, an average adult will have to reduce calorie consumption by 220 calories a day. The recent reductions represent just a fraction of that change.
Health Vending stands ready to help in the effort to improve the environment for those New Yorkers who want to follow healthy lifestyles. One of the most unique aspects about our company is that we provide these healthy products conveniently for consumers.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Bottled Water: A Healthy Way To Beat The Summer Heat in New York
Looking for a healthy way to stay hydrated during this hot New York summer? Healthy Vending has you covered with its array of bottled water choices. Bottled water continues to grow in New York as consumers recognize the importance of staying hydrated during the day.
“Consumers’ thirst for bottled water appears on track to persist in the years ahead,” says Michael Bellas, chairman and CEO of the New York City-based Beverage Marketing Corp. (BMC), which researches beverage trends. “Changes in per capita consumption indicate enthusiasm for a product that consumers regard as a healthful alternative to other beverages. Americans upped their annual bottled water consumption by almost 11 gallons during the period 2004 to 2015. It went from 23.2 gallons per person in 2004 to 34 gallons in 2014.”
During the same period, per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks dropped by more than a dozen gallons, Bellas notes. “Per capita consumption of other major beverage categories, like milk and fruit beverages, also declined.”
Reflecting a clear trend of consumers increasingly choosing healthy, convenient, zero-calorie bottled water, BMC reported that over the past five years alone, bottled water has increased its “share of stomach” of the overall beverage market from 14.4 percent in 2009 to 17.8 percent in 2014. “If current trends persist, bottled water could emerge as the largest beverage category by volume in the country by the end of the decade,” says Bellas.
Many attributes that contribute to bottled water’s undeniable appeal to U.S. consumers, says Chris Hogan, vice president of communications at the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), based in Alexandria, Va. Among them are bottled water’s healthfulness, convenience, and safety.
Bottled water’s versatility makes it suitable for consumption at any time of day and in just about any setting. It doesn’t need to be kept ice cold (like soft drinks or juice) or warm (like conventional coffee or tea).
Consumers’ interest in beverages that deliver benefits above and beyond simple refreshment also contributes to bottled water’s ascension in the beverage rankings. Amid worries about obesity, diabetes, and other health matters, bottled water’s lack of calories and artificial ingredients, convenience, and refreshing taste attracts health-conscientious consumers.
Bottled water is regulated as a food product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA regulations governing the safety and quality of bottled water must be at least as stringent as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for tap water. And, in some very important cases like lead, coliform bacteria, and E. coli, bottled water regulations are substantially more stringent, according to IBWA.
The bottled water industry is utilizing a variety of measures to continue reducing its environmental impact. All bottled water containers are 100 percent recyclable and many bottled water companies are already using recycled plastic in their bottles. Some are even producing 100 percent recycled PET plastic bottled water containers.
“Although it has occasionally been compared with tap water, bottled water in fact realized its prominence as a healthful choice for consumers seeking to reduce their consumption of other less healthy packaged beverages. While some consumers have turned away from regular, full-calorie sodas in favor of their diet versions, many others transitioned to bottled water instead,” says Bellas.
“Bottled water has the smallest water and energy use footprint of any packaged beverage,” adds Hogan. “The results of a 2014 benchmarking study show that the amount of water and energy used to produce bottled water products in North America is less than all other types of packaged beverages. On average, only 1.32 liters of water (including the liter of water consumed) and 0.24 mega joules of energy are used to produce one liter of finished bottled water.”
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671.
FDA Orders Elimination Of Trans Fats From Food; What’s Taken So Long?
Why does it take the government so long to make laws to protect 
public health after scientific evidence confirms that certain types of food need to be regulated? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided in June that artificial trans fat will have to disappear from the American diet. The department has given food manufacturers three years to remove the partially hydrogenated oils, or PHOs, from their products.
Healthy Vending applauds the government’s action. But the fact that it has taken the FDA so long to issue the removal of trans fats is concerning for New York consumers. It demonstrates the need for New York consumers to stay informed about food health issues.
Healthy Vending was established in 2000 on account of the high levels of fat used in many snacks. Trans fats in particular have concerned health experts who have advocated government action.
In response to these concerns, the government required food manufacturers to list trans fat content on labels in 2006.
In 2013, the FDA made a tentative determination that trans fats were no longer safe .
Clearly, it has taken a long time for the FDA to require manufacturers to remove trans fats.
“The FDA’s actions to ultimately remove artificial trans fat from the diets of all Americans is a tremendous step forward in the fight against heart disease,” says Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Eating a healthy diet is a critical element of prevention, and prevention is the key to conquering heart disease – our nation’s No. 1 killer. Taking artificial trans fat out of foods will help Americans achieve this goal and build lives free of heart disease.”
But the FDA’s recent action is only one step in protecting New York consumers’ health in relation to trans fat. As Healthy Vending is well aware, food labels do not communicate everything a consumer needs to know about trans fats.
New York consumers who check food labels for trans fats may not realize that even though the label reads, “Trans fats 0 grams per serving,” that does not necessarily mean zero, according to Ronda Elsenbrook, R.D., L.D., a registered dietitian in the Nutritional Services department at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Houston, Texas. Elsenbrook recently told CNN that manufacturers that produce foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fats can round that number down to zero. So, you might actually be getting 0.4 grams of trans fats per serving, even though the label reads 0 grams.
When we launched Healthy Vending in the greater New York City 
area in 2000, we understood that consumers want healthier snacks and beverages. There was plenty of research to prove this. Lots of school districts in and around New York City were enacting healthy food and beverage rules.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to schools and your local business, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671.