School Officials Voicing Concern Over Flamin' Hot Cheetos

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Many California school districts are voicing concern over Flamin' Hot Cheetos due to nutritional value.

"I love Hot Cheetos. I mean, you never get tired of Hot Cheetos, even in the daytime or in the morning, you can eat them right when you wake up," student Duan Haynes told CBS2's Andrea Fujii. "They're spicy and they're always enjoyable."

A 2.5-ounce bag of Hot Cheetos contains 24 grams of fat and 550 milligrams of sodium -- a quarter of the daily dietary allowance.

The salty snacks aren't sold in campus vending machines but students often bring them to campus. Principals have the option of confiscating them.

"If it's something that will cause disruption in learning or something else that they decide, then it's at their discretion what they want to do," said Katia Ahmed of the Pasadena Unified School District.

Nutritionist Roland Kickinger said the snack can be harmful to children in the long run.

"These ingredients, in excess, will lead to, later in life, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease," Kickinger said.

School officials said it's challenging to encourage healthy eating when students often look the other way.

"Frito-Lay is committed to responsible and ethical marketing practices, which includes not marketing our products to children ages 12 and under. We also do not decide which snacks are available on school campuses and do not sell snack products directly to schools," the company said in a statement.

Frito-Lay has been selling the Hot Cheetos for 20 years.