Mexico bans junk food sales in schools in its latest salvo against child obesity

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A government-sponsored junk food ban in schools across Mexico took effect on Saturday, officials said, as the country tries to tackle one of the world’s worst obesity and diabetes epidemics.

The health guidelines, first published last fall, take a direct shot at salty and sweet processed products that have become a staple for generations of Mexican schoolchildren, such as sugary fruit drinks, packaged chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts.

Announcing that the ban had become law, Mexico's Education Ministry posted on X: “Farewell, junk food!” It encouraged parents to support the government's crusade by cooking healthy meals for their kids.

“One of the core principles of the new Mexican school system is healthy living," said Mario Delgado, the public health secretary. “There's a high level of acceptance of this policy among parents.”

Mexico's ambitious attempt to remake its food culture and reprogram the next generation of consumers is being watched closely around the world as governments struggle to turn the tide on a global obesity epidemic.

In the United States, for instance, the Trump administration’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has vowed to upend the nation's food system and “ Make America Healthy Again " by targeting ultra-processed foods to curb surging obesity and disease.

Under Mexico's new order, schools must phase out any food and beverage displaying even one black warning logo marking it as high in salt, sugar, calories and fat. Mexico implemented that compulsory front-of-package labeling system in 2020.

Enforced from Monday morning, the start of the school week, the junk food ban also requires schools to serve more nutritious alternatives to junk food, like bean tacos, and offer plain drinking water.

“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has championed the ban.

Mexico’s children consume more junk food than anywhere else in Latin America, according to UNICEF, which classifies the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic as an emergency. Sugary drinks and highly processed foods account for 40% of the total calories that children consume in a day, the agency reports.

“At my daughter's school, they told us that future activities wouldn't have candy, it would be completely different, with fruit, vegetables and other food that's healthy for kids,” said Aurora Martínez, a mother of two. “It will help us a lot.”

One-third of Mexican children are already considered overweight or obese, according to government statistics.

School administrators found in violation of the order face stiff fines, ranging from $545 to $5,450.

But enforcement poses a challenge in a country where previous junk food bans have struggled to gain traction and monitoring has been lax across Mexico’s 255,000 schools, many of which lack water fountains — even reliable internet and electricity.

It also wasn't immediately clear how the government would forbid the sale of junk food on sidewalks outside school campuses, where street vendors typically hawk candy, chips, nachos and ice cream to kids during recess and after the school day ends.

“It will be difficult,” said Abril Geraldine Rose de León, a child therapist. “But it will be achieved in the long run.”

A woman buys a popular snack known as "Dorilocos", translated from Spanish to crazy Doritos, for her children, at Chapultepec park in Mexico City, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A child snacks on cotton candy at Chapultepec park in Mexico City, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A child snacks on a frozen dessert at Chapultepec park in Mexico City, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

"Frituras" or fried treats are displayed for sale on a vendor's stall in Chapultepec park in Mexico City, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A child snacks on chicharrón, or fried pork skin, at Chapultepec park in Mexico City, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

FILE - A street vendor sells sweet snacks in Mexico City, July 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

ROME (AP) — Italy’s main trade union confederation on Tuesday said it was joining the prosecution of a farm owner charged with the murder of an Indian migrant worker who bled to death after his arm was cut off by a piece of equipment.

Antonello Lovato, 39, has been accused of abandoning the injured and bleeding Satnam Singh, 31, and failing to call an ambulance following the incident in Latina, a largely agricultural province south of Rome, on June 17, 2024. Prosecutors originally considered charging Lovato with manslaughter, but raised it to murder with malice after the fact since he was aware the actions could cause death.

At the opening of his murder trial on Tuesday, Lovato said that “he lost his head,'' when he saw Singh, who was working in the country illegally, bleeding. ”I wasn't myself. I didn't want him to die,'' he was cited by the news agency ANSA as saying.

Outside the court, dozens of union members, including Sikh workers wearing turbans, demonstrated against the system of exploitative, underpaid migrant labor in Italy's agricultural sector, called, “caporalato.''

“I believe that what happened was apparent to everyone,'' Maurizio Landini, the secretary-general of the powerful CGIL trade union federation, told the crowd. "As is the logic of exploitation known as ‘ caporalato,’ which allows for people to be treated like merchandise, like parts of a machine that can be easily bought and sold for the lowest price. And I insist that it is this culture that needs to be changed.”

The CGIL is joining the prosecution as civil complainants, Landini was cited by the LaPresse news agency as saying. Under Italian law, parties recognized by the court as injured in the commission of crime can join the prosecution, question witnesses and possibly win damage awards in the case of conviction.

“We think it is important to seek justice, above all to put in motion everything necessary to change the way of doing business so episodes like this can never be repeated,’’ Landini said. “We don’t think this is an isolated case. It is a mistake to think this problem can be resolved with this trial. We are worried because the season is starting again.’’

The trial continues May 27.

Antonello Lovato, center, arrives for his trial at the Latina court, south of Rome, Italy, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

A protest organized by CGIL trade union in front of Latina court, south of Rome, Italy, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)