FTC Tells Kid Food Marketers to Shape Up

In recent congressional testimony, the Federal Trade Commission has told food and beverage marketers that they should “adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12.”

Commissioner Jon Leibowitz made the statements before the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, in the context of an FTC study released in July on kid food marketing. The report can be accessed online at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/07/foodmkting.shtm.

“Significantly, the study analyzes data from 2006—a year just before, or very early in the inception of, industry self-regulatory activities,” Leibowitz testified. “The Commission believes that this Report will provide an important benchmark for measuring the future progress of self-regulatory initiatives. In addition to describing the state of food marketing to children and adolescents in 2006 and analyzing industry initiatives to date, the Report also sets forth a number of recommendations. After allowing a reasonable time for response to these recommendations, the Commission will issue a follow-up Report assessing the extent to which the recommendations have been implemented and identifying what, if any, additional measures may be warranted.”

In its testimony, the Commission outlined five recommended steps for marketers, as follows:

“A useful first step would be to join the CBBB [Council of Better Business Bureaus] Initiative. In other words, all companies should take measures to limit their food and beverage promotions directed to children to those for healthier products.

“Second, given the integrated nature of most marketing campaigns, the Commission also recommends that these nutrition-based standards be extended beyond television, radio, print, and Internet advertising, to cover the full spectrum of marketing activities to children, including product packaging, advertising displays at the retail site, premium distribution, celebrity endorsements, and other promotional activities.

“Third, the Commission also recommends that all companies stop in-school promotion of foods and beverages that do not meet meaningful nutrition-based standards. In addition, all companies that sell ‘competitive’ food or beverage products in schools (outside of the school meal program) should join the Alliance for a Healthier Generation or otherwise adopt and adhere to meaningful nutrition-based standards for foods and beverages sold in schools, such as those recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

“Fourth, the Report contains many other specific recommendations for the food industry, which address the nutritional profile of product offerings, nutrition labeling, healthy messages, and marketing in schools.

“Finally, in light of the character licensing and extensive cross promotion of foods with films and children’s television programs, the Report also recommends actions by media and entertainment companies. Included among these is a recommendation that media and entertainment companies should consider instituting their own self-regulatory initiative and working with the CBBB in this endeavor.”