The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), which reviews proposed changes in state regulations, voted 10-1 against the ban on Tuesday.
The proposed changes would have prevented the sale of junk food, such as sugary soft drinks, candy and chips, in elementary and middle schools during the entire school day. Foods and beverages allowed included fruit and vegetable drinks, nuts, seeds and cheese.
But members of JCAR prevented the filing of the new rule, as they claimed it set "nutrition standards that are substantively problematic as they do not provide a total approach to child nutrition through diet, nutrition education and exercise."
Another concern was that the regulation preempted the purview of the State Task Force on Wellness that will consider the issue of school nutrition and report to the Governor and the General Assembly by January 2007.
JCAR also said the proposal "largely excluded local school district input and expertise" in its development.
However, the ISBE has no plans to back down.
"We're ready to work with JCAR and address any concerns they may have in the new proposal we will submit," said ISBE public information officer Meta Minton.
"We remain hopeful that we'll have the new regulations in place for the coming school year. With the current obesity crisis, it just makes sense that children shouldn't have access to junk foods with high sugar, fat and calorie content," she told FoodNavigator-USA.com.
However, she was unable to say what kind of restrictions the new proposal is likely to contain, adding only that there are "plenty of options on the table."
Illinois authorities are not the first to look at implementing restrictions on the sale of junk food in schools, in response to concerns over the growing incidence of childhood obesity.
Elementary schools in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia have already banned the sale of junk food in schools until at least after lunch. And other states have gone even further. Hawaii bans junk food in all schools all day. Florida bans the sale of junk food in elementary schools all day, and in secondary schools until after lunch.
Indeed, despite the fact that the current proposal was blocked, the restriction of the types of foods sold in schools has attracted unprecedented interest in recent years, and is not an issue likely to disappear.
Just last week a bill was introduced in Congress proposing a radical overhaul of the nutritional standards for foods sold in schools.
Introduced by a group of senators and representatives, the new bill- the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006- aims to revise the current definition of 'foods of minimal nutritional value' that are permitted for sale in schools. The current definition, which dates back to 1979 and which focuses on whether a food has at least minimal amounts of one of eight nutrients, has been accused of being obsolete.
The new definition is designed to conform to current nutrition science.
"Nutrition science has evolved and expanded," states the bill, adding that the current definition of school nutritional standards is "inconsistent with current knowledge about nutrition and health."
"Disco-era nutrition standards don't make sense in 2006. When you have an obesity epidemic, schools shouldn't sell candy at recess, potato chips for lunch, and soda throughout the day," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director of consumer watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which supports the legislation.
Lead sponsor of the new measure is Senator Tom Harkin, a long time advocate of, and campaigner for, healthy school food standards.