Rudd Center Launches Food Marketing Pledge Database

Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released a new international database designed to track company pledges to limit food marketing to children. The database currently features 16 pledges: (i) three specific to the soft-drink industry; (ii) one specific to the food industry; and (iii) 12 applicable to the entire food industry. The pledges covered to date include the Council for Better Business Bureaus’ Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), as well as agreements that are either international in scope or based in Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Union, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, or Thailand.

The site breaks down each pledge according to “key criteria that define specific restrictions on marketing communications to children, including the definition of ‘children’ (age), the marketing directed at them (audience definition), the communications channels (ex. television, internet, etc.), marketing methods (ex. advertising using licensed characters, advertising using promotional materials, etc.) covered, and the foods affected.” It also lists the signatories of each pledge, along with the commitments made by individual companies.

Billed as a collaborative effort with the Centre for Food Policy of City University
London, the database is part of a youth marketing study funded by
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Rudd Center has also solicited
updates to keep the database as current as possible.