Portland State University
IN-4: Innovation 4

The Healthy Vending Initiative at PSU aimed at providing more nutritious snacks in vending machines around campus--an effort that is relatively uncommon on higher education campuses. The project began when a student working on a health policy paper approached staff from the student health center. Four pilot locations were selected that included both the highest and lowest revenue machines, and installing one new station. This allowed for a variety of different data collection options from around campus. Pilot machines offer snacks that meet the following criteria: -Snacks – Single serving size only -Calories per item may not exceed 250. -Total calories from fat may not exceed 35 percent. With the exception of foods that are mostly made up of nuts, eggs, cheese, non-fried vegetables or fruits, legumes or seeds. -Sugar content may not exceed 35 percent by weight, except for fruits and vegetables. -Saturated fat may not exceed 10 percent of total calories, with the exception of foods that are entirely made up of nuts, eggs, cheese, non-fried vegetables or fruits, legumes or seeds. -Trans fat may not exceed 0.5 grams per serving. -300 mg or less of sodium Vending revenue either stayed constant or increased in the pilot locations. There are currently 19 total snack vending machines on campus. The plan is for the product mix to be changed out over the current winter break for all the remaining machines that fell outside the pilot. The project team is also working to make the snack nutrition standards an official PSU policy and will begin to develop an education campaign around the changes to the machines, which will be part of a larger nutrition themed initiative on campus.