Last week the Advertising Standards Canada released its fourth annual Compliance Report on the Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (see: Advertising Standards Canada releases 2011 Compliance Report on Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative).
The Initiative was launched by members of Canada’s food and beverage industry in 2007 in an effort to shift the landscape of advertising directed to children under 12 to the promotion of “better-for-you products”.
Under this Initiative, which includes advertising in all major media (as well as children focused media such as video, computer games and DVDs), participants have committed to either not direct advertising primarily to children under 12 or shift advertising to promote products that are “consistent with the principles of sound nutrition guidance.” The Initiative includes specific nutrition criteria (e.g., foods that reflect the dietary guidelines of Canada’s Food Guide or nutrient content claims of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising). Participants in this initiative have also agreed to certain other commitments, such as reducing the use of 3rd party licensed characters used to promote non-Initiative approved products, not advertising in elementary schools or paying for product placements in programs directed at children.
According to the ASC, some participants have stopped child-directed advertising altogether (the 19 food and beverage company participants include Burger King, Campbell’s, Coke, General Mills, Hershey, Kellogg, Kraft, Mars, McDonald’s, Nestle, Pepsi, Post, Unilever and Weston). Others have launched new “better-for-you” advertising initiatives. No product in the ASC’s Initiative is more than 200 calories and every meal is less than 600 calories.
The regulation and self-regulation of food and children’s advertising and labeling is governed in Canada by, among other things, the federal Competition Act, Food and Drugs Act and Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, as well as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising and the ASC’s Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children and Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (which contains specific rules relating to advertising for children).
For a copy of the ASC’s new report see: Canadian Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative.
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