PURITAN CONSUMERS:

In: fruit crisps and milk. Out: Twix and Coke: Companies like Kraft are stressing nutrition for kids, and sales of healthy products from smaller firms soar. (Amanda Paulson, 5/11/06,The Christian Science Monitor)

Last week, soft-drink companies announced they would pull high-calorie drinks out of schools, selling only limited sizes of water, milk, and 100 percent juice in elementary and middle schools, and no full-calorie sodas in high schools. Disney recently decided not to renew its cross-promotional agreement with McDonald's, reportedly in part because of concerns about junk-food associations. And at this week's Food Marketing Institute Show in Chicago, a number of companies are emphasizing "low in sugar" and "high in nutrients," especially when it comes to food for kids. That follows Kraft's lead from last year, when it decided to limit children-oriented advertising to its "sensible solution" products.

"The food industry is very worried these days about being blamed for the rising obesity rates, and they should be," says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.