After the institution of the much-dreaded nutrition policy at the start of last school year, students at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School suffered a grievous injustice: we could no longer drink a 20-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola five days a week. However, a brand new addition has recently been made to Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School's cafeteria: a Vitamin Water vending machine. What better way to encourage us to develop healthy habits than to encourage us to buy into a trend?

With its witty labels, bright colors and appealing flavors, Vitamin Water seems like a good way to get the vitamins and minerals that are missed when we eat a soft pretzel and Baked Lays for lunch. But don't let the brand image fool you. Vitamin Water is just not good for you.

There are 13 grams of sugar in one serving of Vitamin Water - not bad. But consider the whole bottle that you've consumed between lunch and tenth period: there are two and a half servings of the beverage in one bottle, or 32.5 grams of sugar. Now compare Vitamin Water with the principal beverage of its parent company, Coca-Cola: there are 39 grams of sugar in a 12-ounce can of the soda. The bottle of Vitamin Water contains more beverage than the can of soda, but it is reasonable to assume that a student would drink an entire bottle of Vitamin Water just as he would finish a can of soda.

While Coca-Cola's sugar comes from the undeniably unhealthful high-fructose corn syrup, Vitamin Water's sweetness is also far from innocent. The sugar in Vitamin Water is crystalline fructose. In nature, this sugar sweetens many fruits. In Vitamin Water, this sugar is made from cornstarch.

According to food service director Patty Sue Massa, Vitamin Water is approved by the state as an acceptable beverage to be sold in schools. Since our nutrition policy is supposed to eliminate foods of "minimal nutritional value," why install a Vitamin Water vending machine?

Because soda has more sugar in a smaller volume and lacks the vitamin enrichment of Vitamin Water, our cafeteria's new addition is certainly healthier than drinking soda every day. But it simply contains too much sugar to live up to its nutritious image. If a nutrition policy's aim is to encourage good eating habits, encouraging consumption of Vitamin Water should not be a part of it.