The world's No 1 soda-maker also said it will work to lessen its commercial presence in schools, by covering up giant company logos and ending exclusivity contracts with educators.

"We think our products have an appropriate role in schools, but we just don't think that schools are an appropriate venue for marketing," Mr Jeff Dunn, president of Coca-Cola's Americas business unit, said. Coca-Cola's U-turn, which it said resulted from months of consultations with parents, teachers and administrators, came in the wake of growing concerns about the nutritional value of soft-drinks and snacks sold in schools.

The US Agriculture Department has asked Congress for authority to regulate what foods and beverages could be sold to schoolchildren. A study published recently in British medical journal `The Lancet' suggested that an extra soft-drink a day, increases the likelihood of children ending up obese.Coca-Cola's main rival, PepsiCo Inc., has similar arrangements with many schools, reportedly is planning similar changes to its marketing strategy.Mr Dunn, who noted that Coca-Cola has 50 years experience "helping" schools, said the controversy over exclusivity contracts and the marketing of soft- drinks in schools has turned extremely negative in the past several years.

Coca-Cola's bottlers supported the move to end contracts that had sparked "cola wars" in school districts across the nation, he added. The changes would also allow schools to limit the sale of soft-drinks at certain times during the day, Mr Dunn said. New drink products will probably be in Coke's 100,000 school vending machines by September. Analysts said it is premature to gauge the impact of the marketing change on Coca-Cola's sales, but they noted that schools represent a small percentage of the company's unit case volumes in the United States. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Skip Carpenter said, the move could end up enhancing the Coca-Cola's business, which is expanding from soft-drinks into health, nutritional and sports beverages.

"They recognize that other beverage categories are seeing greater growth and there is a consumer preference change, especially among the youth," said Mr Carpenter, who added that the change also reflected a desire to improve relationships with consumers, regulators and government officials.

Coca-Cola recently embarked on partnerships with consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. to market snack foods and fruit juices and with Swiss food giant Nestle SA for tea-based drinks and other beverages, besides soft- drinks.