A coalition of food companies — including General Mills, ConAgra and Kellogg — say they will cut back on advertising junk food to children. The companies are to announce a new set of self-imposed guidelines and standards today. This is noteworthy because many of these companies recently rejected similar guidelines proposed by the federal government.
The new standards will only allow companies to advertise food and beverage products to children if they meet certain nutritional criteria. What that criteria is, however, is not clear. The hope is that these standards will force company’s to alter recipes, reducing sodium, fat, sugars and calories, but since they’re creating these guideliens themselves, I find it hard to believe they’re going to put their own products in jeopardy.
“Now foods from different companies, such as cereals or canned pastas, will meet the same nutrition criteria, rather than similar but slightly different company-specific criteria,” said Elaine Kolish of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. I guess we’ll have to see what effect this really has.
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*Feature image from abc.net.au
I like food too much.