The voluntary commitment by EU food and drink companies to market their products responsibly is not protecting European children from advertisements promoting unhealthy food and drink, and for good reason: children are massively targeted by these ads, the European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) said.
This is supported by a snapshot analysis published on 27 September, which BEUC and ten of its members carried out in spring 2021 as part of a project initiated by Professor Amandine Garde of the University of Liverpool.
This analysis shows the shortcomings of voluntary commitment, namely: - nutrition criteria are too lax: products deemed acceptable for marketing to children are much higher in nutrients of concern than recommended by independent public health authorities; - popular television programmes fall through the cracks, despite the high proportion of children in the audience; - the rules underestimate the significant exposure and powerful marketing tactics used in both the digital and physical world; - companies breaking their own rules are not worried, the ‘EU Pledge’ complaints procedure is too slow, obscure, inconsistent and lenient.
“Knowing the powerful influence of food advertising on kids’ eating, coupled with an obesity epidemic, policymakers can no longer bury their heads in the sand”, comments BEUC Director Monique Goyens.
BEUC calls for: - an online ban for the marketing of unhealthy food products, including food company websites and social media accounts; - a 6am-11pm TV watershed to stop the broadcast of unhealthy food advertising when children watch TV the most; - a ban on the use of marketing techniques appealing to children on food packaging (e.g., cartoon characters and brand mascots).
See the analysis document: https://bit.ly/3CT4FdM (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)