Regulating the types of foods and beverages marketed to Australian children: How useful are food industry commitments?

Abstract

Aim: Any regulation of food marketing to children requires clear definitions of the types of foods considered inappropriate and subject to restrictions. The aim of this research was to examine the commitments made by signatory companies of the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Responsible Marketing to Children Initiative regarding the types of foods considered appropriate for marketing to children. Methods: Nutrient criteria developed by signatory food companies were examined by comparing (i) thresholds set for negative nutrients (saturated fats, added sugars and sodium) and total energy to two existing nutrient criteria: Healthy Kids Association and the National Heart Foundation Tick, and (ii) the types of foods considered appropriate for marketing to children, if applying companies' commitments or the product's nutrient profile using the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand nutrient profiling tool. Results: All five company‐developed nutrient criteria examined specified higher thresholds for negative nutrients compared with existing criteria, and were more likely to report negative nutrients per serve rather than per 100 g. When applying company commitments, 57% more energy‐dense, nutrient‐poor foods and beverages were considered appropriate for marketing to children, compared with nutrient profiling. Conclusion: Food industry commitments regarding the types of foods considered appropriate for marketing to children do not adequately restrict the marketing for energy‐dense, nutrient‐poor foods. It is recommended food manufacturers who commit to restricting their marketing of unhealthy foods to children use a standardised, independent nutrient profiling tool based on per 100 g/100 mL to determine the appropriateness of foods and beverages for marketing to children.

Nutritional quality of a selection of children's packaged food available in Australia

“…Our findings are consistent with previous studies that have assessed the nutritional quality of food products available in Australia . Across all these studies, the larger proportion of packaged food products in Australia was rated as unhealthy.…”

“…Across all these studies, the larger proportion of packaged food products in Australia was rated as unhealthy. In a study that applied the NPSC to 52 package food products specifically targeted at children, 62% (n = 32) of the products assessed did not meet the NPSC, an identical result to the present study . While other Australian studies have used variations of core food groupings to assess the nutritional quality of children's products, these studies included fast food making it difficult to compare results.…”

“…To date, there has been limited application of the NPSC to children's food in Australia . More recently, Watson et al .…”

The EU pledge for responsible marketing of food and beverages to children: implementation in food companies

“…Other nutritional parameters could be imagined as well, for example, content of total calories, fibres, sodium, cholesterol and so on. [25][26][27] This flexibility represents an economic value to some of the companies, because it 'endorses' TV advertising for a share of their product portfolio, which might not be advertised in case of public regulation, and thus enables higher sales. Results from the marketing literature suggest advertising elasticities (that is, percentage change in sales following from 1% increase in advertising expenditure) in the range 0.1-0.3.…”

Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self‐regulation

“…Recent self‐regulatory initiatives for responsible advertising to children, introduced by food and advertising industries, have provided some specifications for the types of foods and marketing techniques they consider appropriate for advertising to children and for defining child audiences 8 , 9 . However these specifications are poorly defined, highly permissive, and are voluntary for food manufacturers and services 5 , 10 …”