Time Warner Cable News Austin - June 18, 2015
by Karina Kling
Deep-fried foods and certain sodas have not been part of the lunchroom lineup at Texas public schools for the past 10 years. But that could soon change.
"I have a little disdain from mandates from Washington and from Austin on our schools," said Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.
Miller announced Thursday that he's lifting the decades-old state mandate on deep fryers and soda machines.
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His proposal has gotten a lot of pushback.
"Frankly, I'm not aware of any parent or health care professional that thinks what children need more in their lives is deep fat fried food," said Lauren Dimitry with Texans Care for Children.
Critics like Dimitry say it's a step back for childhood nutrition.
"Now, with the rules being lifted, what you might see, unfortunately, is more caffeinated beverages, low-calorie or no-calorie diet drinks that health professionals really tell us displace kids drinking water and milk, which is what we really want kids to be consuming more of," she said.