Food And Soft Drink Companies Representing Some Two-Thirds Of European Food Advertising Pledge To Stop Promoting Junk Food to The Under 12s Within A Year, And Unlike A Similar Food Company Pledge In The US, This One Has Independent Verification

It has been a couple of years since EC Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told food producers that if they did not adopt a voluntary commitment to stop promoting high fat, salt or sugar foods to the young, then the EC would introduce legislation. But it has taken until now for the food industry to say firmly it is going to do something, but it will take another year to work out details.

As the food industry’s Christmas present to Europe, 11 of the biggest food producers have announced they are signing a “European Pledge” to change their food advertising to children. But each company gets to write its own rules that must be implemented by the end of 2008 – so there’s another year for advertising to help make us fat – and independent verification therefore doesn’t start until January, 2009.

Perhaps most astounding is that the EC allowed the industry to take two years to just announce it is going to do something.

In the Agreement, the food companies pledged to stop advertising foods and beverages high in fats, salts or sugar on TV, print and the Internet to children under the age of 12 within the EU, and they will not promote those foods in schools unless specifically invited by a school to do so. Each company will come up with its own voluntary measures, but they will be based on national and international nutritional standards.

ftm background

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On both sides of the Atlantic the campaign is gaining steam – obesity is a major problem, it’s continually getting worse in children at ever younger ages and one big villain is television. And although some food producers have voluntarily cut back targeting ads at the under 12s, and some government agencies have proposed what they see as tough advertising restrictions, the verbiage from some lawmakers and lobby groups is that it’s not enough.

UK Commercial Cable and Terrestrial Networks Say Outlook For Kids TV Programming Bleak As British Regulator Proposes Junk Food Ad Ban In Move That Will Cost Millions In Lost Revenue
Obesity is considered the number one growth disease in Europe, and it is getting worse the most in the under 16s. Could all those junk foods high in fat, salt and sugar that are heavily advertised in TV programs aimed at the under 16s be a contributing cause? The UK TV regulator thinks so, and has shocked commercial broadcasters by wanting to ban such ads aimed at kids starting in January.

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Food advertising in France next year must contain a health warning against high fat or sugar content or the manufacturer could face a 1.5% tax on its advertising spend.

Junk Food Joins Alcohol and Tobacco as TV Advertising NO-Go Areas
The reason we and our kids are fat is because we succumb to all that junk food advertising on television instead of eating healthy nutritional salads, vegetables and the like. Actually, it’s not our fault as parents; it’s the kids fault since they are the ones who after watching all those television ads directed at them are dragging us to those fast-food outlets

Conspicuously absent from the list is McDonalds, although rival Burger King is there. Peter Robinson, Burger King’s President for Europe, said in a statement, “Advertising will continue to play an essential role in our ability to build awareness and promote our wide range of menu changes.” The company talks of menu changes, but has not yet said whether it will change the nutritional value of its food or just not advertise high fat, salt, and sugar menu items to the under 12s. It says it will publish the information next year and implement the changes by the end of 2008.

Those who have been lobbying hard for tighter controls on food advertising are not overly impressed, since the Pledge currently contains no specific actions except what the food industry says it intends to do once it works out the details. “This announcement aims to persuade the EU that the food industry can regulate itself and it is not about improving children’s health,” said Richard Watts of the Children’s Food Campaign in the UK.

Some EU countries haven’t waited around for the EU’s voluntary program to take effect. In the UK, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) implemented restrictions in April that banned advertising of foods high in fat, salt or sugar in and around TV programs aimed at the four to nine years olds. But that meant that programs those children may also watch but which are not aimed at them do get those ads. Within three months of the scheme’s launch the consumer magazine Which? complained that the Ofcom ban actually only hit seven of the top 50 popular TV programs watched by kids. Starting January 1, the restrictions will be increased to such programs targeting kids up to the age of 15, or programs that have a particular interest to such an age group.

The UK has cause for concern. It is said to have the highest obesity rates in the EU. According to the Foresight project’s “Tackling Obesities: Future Choices” the level of obesity in the UK has doubled over the past 25 years and fully 25% of all adults are now obese. Some 10% of children are obese and another 20% are considered to be overweight.

But it’s the future that is most worrying and why the European Commission wants to get a handle on these TV junk food ads. The UK’s obesity rate is about twice that of Germany and close to three times that of France. If current trends aren’t stopped then by the year 2025 about 40% of the UK population will be obese, by the year 2050 the figure will be 60% of men and 50% of women, half of all boys in school will be obese as will 20% of all girls, and the cost of treating this would increase seven-fold, according to the Foresight project.

The UK has set a target of 2020 to eradicate obesity which sounds encouraging until one remembers the original target was 2010. What really hurts, and why it is so important to get the young on the right track as soon as possible, is that 77% of children who become overweight remain obese as adults.

Major food firms in the US have signed up for a Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, committing that at least half of their advertising spend aimed at kids would be to promote healthier products, good nutrition, and healthier lifestyles. Appearing on both the US and European lists are Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft, PepsiCo, Unilever, Masterfoods, and Burger King. Filling out the European list are Danone, Ferrero, and Nestlé. On the US list but not on the European list are McDonalds, Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell Soup, Hershey, and Con Agra.

The stakes are high. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named obesity as one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century.