The deal already looks suspiciously sweetened. On May 3, 2006, U.S. beverage firms announced [3] an agreement with the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association gradually to pull most sweetened soft drinks from U.S. schools. Former President Bill Clinton [4] led the press conference [5]. But food policy expert Michele Simon [6] says Clinton gave PR cover to the companies and coopted a more transparent public health-centered negotiation. Soda sales had already flattened. The beverage makers may have been looking to avoid a patchwork of state laws and to protect school vending machine slots for their other products--such as high calorie sports drinks, which were not part of the deal. Simon writes: "[T]his so-called agreement could undermine the massive public health effort currently underway in schools all across the nation."