With Obesity on the Increase, European Countries Target Food Advertising, Especially That Aimed at Kids, While Food Manufacturers Greatly Increase Their Spend to Promote Healthy Food

The French government cabinet approved the new law after receiving a startling report from the National Institute for Health and Medical Research that obesity in those aged 15 or less has doubled in the past five years, and that the proportion of adults that are obese has grown from 8% to 11%. France has already banned sale of carbonated drinks and candy in schools.

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EC Audiovisual Conference Debates New Media Rules
The European Union’s main policy experts, regulators, broadcasters, legislators along with industry and employees associations will gather in Liverpool to “facilitate expert discussion of the revision of the Television Without Frontiers Directive.”

Food Ads Under Attack Again: New Survey Says Kids Think “Fat-Free” and “Diet” Are Synonymous with “Nutritious”
As the food industry globally works on self-regulations in advertising various fatty or salty foods to the under 12s, a new survey has come along suggesting certain buzz words like “fat-free” and “diet” need to be fully explained, or not used, since kids equate those words with healthy foods.

Sex and Nudity Are OK Within Limits, But Better Not Mess With Religion
If an advertiser messes with God there is more chance that the ad will get banned, according to the 2004 annual report of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). But the Brits do see things a bit more liberally than their continental cousins.

As the EC Declares War on Obesity, the Food Industry Changes Its TV Advertising. Their Voluntary Theme - In the Hope Regulators Won’t Ban Their Ads Aimed at Kids - Becomes “Eat and Live Healthy”
Europeans used to scoff at the fat American – there were so many of them (especially those who insisted on wearing shorts to emphasize their figure) -- but now obesity has reached epidemic proportions in Europe, and the regulatory fingers are wagging at television food advertisers. The alleged villains are not just the junk food outlets, but also household-name food manufacturers who target their heavily sugared or salted products in programs watched by the under 12s.

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.

The French health warning is expected to saying something close to, “For your health, don’t eat too much fat, or too much sugar, and exercise regularly.” Whether the warning – for print and audio-visual -- must be posted only for those foods considered to contain excessive sugar and fat according to government guidelines or to all foods is still being finalized. The food industry says such a warning damages its competitiveness.

The UK has announced it is banning all foods with high fat, sugar, and salt content from school meals and school vending machines next year. But the consumer organization Which says that should just be the first step. “The government must urgently tackle the advertising and promotion of junk food to children. There’s little point in tackling it in schools if children continue to be bombarded with unhealthy messages when they switch on the TV.”

According to EC Health and Consumer Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, “obesity is a spiraling problem in the EU, with over 250 million adults and around 14 million children currently overweight or obese, and these figures are expected to rise further.”

The commissioner last March formed the EU Platform on Diet, Nutrition and Physical Health, which included foods industry representatives, advertisers, retailers and others with the aim of redoubling efforts to fight obesity. A major aim of the group is to establish a voluntary code of self-regulation on food advertising, particularly that advertising aimed at children.

Kyprianou has said he prefers the voluntary route, which he wants in place in 2006, but if self-regulation proposals were not tough enough in the current environment in which the obesity figures get worse each year – the number of obese children in Europe is increasing by 400,000 annually -- then he was prepared to go the legislation route if necessary.

In Spain, the food industry has agreed not to screen TV advertisements that use fictional characters popular with children. There’s a similar voluntary ban in The Netherlands that stops celebrity endorsements in TV and radio ads targeted at children. And there is no advertising in children’s programs in Norway and Sweden.

All this attention on the food industry, and its continual efforts to make existing popular products healthier by reducing sugar, salt, and fat, has actually led to a big boom in television food advertising. Whereas one year ago in the UK, for instance, television food advertising had actually dropped 7% in the first half of the year, this year it has increased by 27% in the same period.

And the king of junk food purveyors, McDonalds, says it has greatly increased its advertising budget so it can talk about its new healthy salads, and making their Happy Meal aimed at kids healthier. McDonalds, incidentally, has announced that it will launch in Europe first, at the Turin Winter Olympic Games in 2006, new packaging that lists nutritional information via bar charts for its various products such as calories, protein, carbohydrates, and sodium, comparing the contents to US government daily recommended allowances. But it has no plans to advertise the new packaging on TV, relying rather on store promotional literature.

There was much pressure on the UK government last year to introduce legislation that would have banned junk food advertising aimed at children. The government, under food industry pressure, instead told the TV regulator to agree with the food industry a voluntary code governing the advertising of food considered unhealthy. If the voluntary rules aren’t tough enough the government said it would introduce legislation in 2007.

The UK food industry, meanwhile, says that by the end of this year 36% of its products will have less salt than they did in 2004, 15% would have less fat and 10% would have less sugar.

With two bills introduced in the US Congress to regulate advertising aimed at children, the US the food industry is heavily lobbying for voluntary restrictions – suggesting recently that product placements be stopped in children’s programming.

But broadcasters and advertisers who target kids have signaled they do have their limits on what restrictions they will accept without a fight. The Association of National Advertisers has filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to overturn a new rule that placed more marketing restrictions on programs aimed at the under 13s.

The food industry, meanwhile, is busy reengineering those foods targeted at kids.

Kelloggs, the cereal maker, has been busy reducing the sugar content of some of its cereals. Kraft, one of the country’s largest food producers, announced in January that such sugar-filled products as Chips Ahoy cookies and Kool-Aid drink would no longer be targeted at children under 12, and it is removing trans fat from many of its products.

Kraft said it was phasing out all of its TV advertising this year aimed at the 6-11 age group. Any of its products advertised in a program where more than 50% of the viewer are likely be under 12 must meet specific nutritional values set by the company for that age group.

The health worries are affecting even the biggest international brands. Coca-Cola recently reported a disappointing 1% increase in its third-quarter European sales. President Dominique Reinciche summed it up, “There is an underlying shift in consumer preferences away from regular carbonated soft drinks and driven by health and wellness trends and associated public opinion, media, and government attention to it.”

In several markets Coke is promoting exercise activities and it has reengineered many of its diet drinks to zero calories.

But for all of that television faces yet another charge that it is partly responsible for the world’s obesity epidemic. The American Academy of Pediatrics in a recent report says that children under two shouldn’t be watching TV at all, and that those older than two should be restricted to no more than two hours of television viewing every day. Each hour over two hours in creases the risk of obesity for the child by the time he/she reaches 30.

It’s not just the 40,000 commercials annually targeted at US kids -- 32% for candy, 31% for breakfast cereal, and 9% for fast food – that worries the Academy, but rather a child’s lack of exercise.

The Academy wants the child out there walking, cycling and playing sports instead of being a “couch-potato.” Which does, of course, bring up the interesting point that with food manufactures promoting the healthy outdoor exercise life doesn’t that mean the viewer is no longer home as much watching the message?

With Obesity on the Increase, European Countries Target Food Advertising, Especially That Aimed at Kids, While Food Manufacturers Greatly Increase Their Spend to Promote Healthy Food

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.