Photos courtesy of Healthy Vending 4U
Grabbing a handful of quarters and heading to the vending machine doesn’t have to include an added serving of food guilt.
When people, be they schoolchildren or office workers, are driven away from the well-stocked fridge at home and brought in close proximity to potentially sugar-laden vending machines, they face threats to their healthful diets.
But just as nutrition has become a higher priority for restaurants and grocery stories, so, too, has it become a higher priority for the people who stock the vending machines. Instead of the standard fare of chips, pretzels and assorted candy bars, some vending machines are expanding to better meet today’s nutritional standards.
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Offering an alternative to the nutrient-barren wasteland that has become a vending machine stereotype, healthful vending machine entrepreneurs hope to combat rising obesity levels in America with healthful snack options in both school and office facilities.
“Consumers are eating healthier these days and are now realizing how bad junk food really is, especially with the new health care laws that require posting of nutritional and calorie content,” says Melodye Demastus, founder of the central Ohio startup Healthy Vending 4U. “While we can’t be the food police, we can provide healthier options to help people make better food choices.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 36 percent of Americans are considered obese, putting them at an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and other obesity-related health concerns. First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign for fitness and nutrition in young children struggling with obesity has caught the attention of a super-sized nation.
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Those highly-processed snack foods such as candy bars, cakes and chocolates are convenient both in size and cost, giving them a seductive appeal to the time-pressed consumer. The goal for Healthy Vending 4U and its contemporaries is to present comparable options without all the added preservatives and artificial sweeteners.
Hilliard-based Healthy Vending 4U has already provided a number of central Ohio office buildings, medical facilities and business colleges with healthful juices and organic sodas, such as San Pellegrino sparkling waters and V8 Low Sodium and V8 Fusion juices, along with microwaveable, low-sodium soups and heart-healthy almond snacks.
Various fan-favorite protein bars are also available, including Clif, Luna, Kind Healthy Grains Fruit & Nut, Nature Valley and Good Greens bars. The latter, in particular, has been turning heads of late; it’s the size of a candy bar, but it contains 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. The company’s machines also operate with AirVend technology, allowing the user to view any given item’s nutritional content before buying.
“Our goal is to provide healthy snacks that are lower in fat, sugar and sodium, and higher in nutritional content,” says Demastus. “The entire vending industry is beginning to offer healthier alternatives because that’s what many consumers want, and employers have a vested interest in helping their employees maintain healthier lifestyles. I believe that the industry for healthy snacks will continue to grow.”
Bethany N. Bella is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
