In an effort to combat childhood obesity, the city’s highest school board voted Wednesday to change vendors for school vending machines.

The new machines will dispense drinks and snacks that adhere to strict nutritional guidelines. Snacks such as wasabi peas, diced peaches and seven grain crackers will now be sold.

That means food companies will need to develop new nutritional products.

“Leading the way for Pepsi for example to develop new products and we expect exactly the same thing to happen on the snack side as well,” said David Ross of the New York City Department of Education. “We know that starting with there will be much healthier products in the machine but we hope going forward that there will be more healthy products. So we’ll have, in effect, led the way for the country.”

Some parents who attended the vote voiced their concerns over the recent regulation of school bake sales.

They claim the Department of Education is forbidding bake sales in order to drive more business to the vending machine companies.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein argues the bake sales are being regulated due to health concerns over obesity.

Source: NY1