As the Philadelphia School District considers a new beverage contract, schools around the nation are pushing for better food choices for students.

They want healthier snacks and drinks, especially in vending machines, because of worries about child obesity and poor nutrition.

New school policies and proposed state laws are being drafted to limit the fat and added sugar in vending machine offerings. And companies - including Coke and Pepsi, which are competing for Philadelphia's exclusive beverage vending contract - are responding with new alternatives to the familiar sodas.

Coke plans to unveil soon its Swerve dairy drink. PepsiCo touts a "better for you" program, such as bottled water and baked potato chips lower in fat than the standard version. Nestle USA recently announced a plan to offer dairy products as a "healthy alternative" to non-nutritive drinks.

"What we are watching is a sea change," said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, a New Hampshire organic yogurt company seeking to sell its products in school machines.

"Historically, the companies that placed vending machines benefited from a halo effect, [by] bringing money into schools," he said. "That's no longer going to be enough... . They are going to have to step up to the plate and demonstrate a concern that goes beyond the bottom line."

Two dozen states - but not New Jersey or Pennsylvania - introduced legislation this year to regulate school vending machines or set new nutrition standards such as bans on candy and soda, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two bills were introduced last month in Congress that address school vending machines. One would authorize $100 million in federal grants to help schools stock vending machines with healthier choices.

"It does not help to teach them [children] in the classroom that proper nutrition is important for a long and healthy life, then offer them only junk food in the cafeteria vending machines," said Rep. Lois Capps (D., Calif.), a former school nurse who introduced the bill, in a statement.

Vending machines have been a difficult topic for school districts. The schools can get significant income from vending machines, but they also take significant heat for selling junk food. In particular, exclusive beverage deals requiring schools to buy from one company have been criticized by parents and nutrition advocates.

While the terms and scope vary, contracts offer a school district a commission of 39 percent to 56 percent that can grow with additional beverage sales, according to 2002 report commissioned by the California Endowment. The survey of 20 large California school districts noted that some districts also can receive bonus payments of up to $1 million for allowing companies exclusivity and marketing rights.

Three years ago, the Philadelphia school board turned down a 10-year, $43-million deal from Coke because it wasn't lucrative enough and raised nutritional concerns. Now, the school district again is mulling an exclusive contract for its 700 vending machines. (The first attempt included non-vending drink sales.)

"It would be better for the school district not to execute this contract because it allows the beverage companies to select the products they want to sell in the schools," said Duane Perry, executive director of Food Trust, a Philadelphia group focused on nutrition issues, which is working with the district to develop a school nutrition policy.

He said the Food Trust is helping to put together a coalition to block the sale of high-sugar, empty-calorie beverages.

The school district advertised it would seek a partner that can offer a "full range of beverages." But it did not specify what the drinks should be or how they would be distributed among the machines.

Paul Schmid, director of school food services, said the school district has the final say on product mix. And healthy beverages are gaining in popularity among students, he said. One in four drinks sold in district vending machines is water, 100-percent juice or a sports drink such as Powerade.

Joan Nachmani, district dietetic services coordinator, said "all school districts are under pressure" to offer healthy beverages. The pilot nutrition policy includes a soft-drink ban and requires juice drinks to contain at least 25 percent juice.

"We sense the handwriting on the wall," Nachmani said, referring to the movement to healthier products. "We believe in the policy, and want to expand it on our own to get kids to eat as healthy as possible."

Organizers of the Philadelphia effort quickly discovered that 100-percent juice vending selections were limited to apple and orange juice. They also found they had to settle for 16-ounce bottles, which contain two "servings" and more than 200 calories.

"It is great to have ideals of where you want to be," said Jackie McLaughlin, who is involved in the Philadelphia project and is an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania's Weight and Eating Disorders Program. "You have to start with the reality of where you are... .

"We need to be asking manufacturers to provide us with different serving-size options and different food choice options," she said.

The Haverford School District recently installed four vending machines containing flavored milk, iced teas, and fruit beverages containing at least 10-percent juice.

"We couldn't keep them filled," said Charles Damiani, Haverford director of food services. "It blew my mind."

He said the district wanted to introduce more healthy products, but he had "no idea it would vend so well."

Indeed, he said, a milk machine now outsells a soda machine 2-1.