Calling childhood obesity “an epidemic of alarming proportions,” Jon Leibowitz, chairman, FTC, kicked off a daylong public forum titled “Sizing Up Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity,” held Dec. 15, 2009. The task at hand was to hear evidence on the impact marketing has on children’s food preferences, discuss the legal implications of regulating advertising to children, and hear preliminary standards developed by the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG).
Formed as mandated by the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which included funding for several programs related to prevention of childhood obesity, the IWG includes representatives from FTC, FDA, USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is charged with researching and recommending standards for food marketing directed at children age 17 and younger. It received $46 million in funding and is scheduled to report its findings in July 2010. A Federal Register notice soliciting comments has been posted.
Michelle Rusk, senior attorney, advertising practices, FTC, and a member of the IWG, said, in part: “We really see this as a set of standards to guide industry in determining what is appropriate to market to children. If industry responds, and we certainly hope and expect that they will, by limiting children’s marketing to the foods that meet these standards, then we really do believe it will have a meaningful impact on children’s food choices, on their diets and ultimately on their health, and that is really what was driving the work of the group.”
The proposed standards are as follows:
• Standard I foods: Standard I foods would include 100% fruit and fruit juices, and 100% vegetables and vegetable juices in all forms. Vegetables and vegetable juices cannot exceed 140 mg of sodium per RACC (reference amount customarily consumed). These foods would be exempt from Standards II and III.
• Standard II foods: Intended to work together with Standard III, Standard II foods must provide a “meaningful contribution to a healthful diet” for children.
• Standard III foods: Intended to work together with Standard II, Standard III foods limit specific components: Saturated fats would be limited to 1 gram or less per RACC and not more than 15% of calories; trans fats would be limited to zero grams (less than 0.5 grams) per RACC; sugar would be limited to no more than 13 grams of added sugars per RACC; and sodium would be limited to no more than 200 mg per portion.
In concluding the forum, David C. Vladeck, director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, said: “To be clear, these standards will not be regulations. They will not be binding. But we expect the food industry to make great strides in limiting children-directed marketing to foods that meet these standards. If not, I suspect that Congress may decide for all of us what additional steps are required.”
