San Jose City Council Votes For Healthier Vending Machines

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - The San Jose City Council voted on Tuesday to set an even higher bar for its vending machines by requiring them to be stocked with healthier snacks.

The city council voted six-to-three approving an ordinance that requires that 75 percent of snacks in vending machines are healthy—up from the previous 50-percent requirement in 2006.

The measure was supported by City Councilwoman Rose Herrera, who talked about her own struggles with obesity.

"For just me personally I would like the opportunity to go to vending machine and find something that's healthy so I think it's about options for people who are really trying to stay healthy and who have to for health reasons or to lose weight," she said.

The goal of the ordinance is to reduce obesity among San Jose youth but some senior citizen advocates were upset that they were not including included in the crafting of the new requirements.

"We should have been notified. We should have been given the opportunity to give input," Senior Citizens Commission spokeswoman Martha O'Connell said. "This is really outrageous."

The city council considered a proposed earlier this year banning soda and whole milk from city vending machines but that was rejected by opponents decrying it as an act of "nanny government."

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