Researchers with the New South Wales Cancer Council and University of Adelaide have assessed food and beverage TV advertisements broadcast in five major Australian cities during children’s programming from September 1 to October 31, 2010, and found a total of 951 breaches of both mandatory and voluntary regulations. Michele Roberts, et al., “Compliance with children’s television food advertising regulations in Australia,” BMC Public Health, October 5, 2012. According to the study, “[a]lmost 83% of all food and beverages advertised during children’s programming times were for foods classified as ‘Extras’ in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. There were also breaches in relation to the amount of advertising repetition and the use of promotional appeals such as premium offers, competitions, and endorsements by popular children’s characters.” The researchers conclude that the country’s current regulatory system “is not providing comprehensive protection for children from exposure to television advertising for unhealthy foods.” They…
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A California resident has filed a putative class action against General Mills, Inc., alleging that its “100% Natural” labeling and advertising for products such as Nature Valley® Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunchy Granola Bars are misleading because the products contain ingredients grown from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Rojas v. General Mills, Inc., No. 12-5099 (N.D. Cal., filed October 1, 2012). Contending that the soy, yellow corn flour, soy flour, and soy lecithin in the granola bars are GMO ingredients, the plaintiff does not request that the defendant provide a GMO disclosure; rather, he “only requests Defendant to remove the ‘100% NATURAL’ labeling from its Product.” While the plaintiff’s alleged harm is purely economic, i.e., he did not get the benefit of his bargain, he alleges that GMOs “pose a potential threat to consumers because medical research and scientific studies have yet to determine the long-term health effects of genetically engineered foods.”…
Researchers with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center have published a study claiming that children’s brain scans registered increased activation in the orbitofrontal precortex and inferior prefrontal cortex when the subjects were shown familiar food logos. Amanda Bruce, et al., “Branding and a child’s brain: an fMRI study of neural responses to logos,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, September 2012. The study’s authors apparently used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 17 healthy-weight children to gauge their neural reactions to 60 food and 60 non-food logos as opposed to a baseline image created to approximate the logos’ visual properties of color composition and brightness. “Food logos compared to baseline were associated with increased activation in orbitofrontal cortex and inferior prefrontal cortex,” concluded the report. “Compared to nonfood logos, food logos elicited increased activation in the posterior cingulate cortex. Results confirmed that food logos activate…
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published a series of studies and commentary on the purported health effects of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages. The American Beverage Association issued a statement contending that studies focusing “solely on sugar-sweetened beverages” as an alleged cause of obesity “or any single source of calories, do nothing meaningful to help address this serious issue. The fact remains: sugar-sweetened beverages are not driving obesity. By every measure, sugar-sweetened beverages play a small and declining role in the American diet.” The studies included Janne de Ruyter, et al., “A Trial of Sugar-free or Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Body Weight in Children,” (concluding, “[m]asked replacement of sugar-containing beverages with noncaloric beverages reduced weight gain and fat accumulation in normal-weight children.”); Cara Ebbeling, et al., “A Randomized Trial of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Adolescent Body Weight,” (concluding, “[a]mong overweight and obese adolescents, the increase in [body mass index] was smaller…
The International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) has released a report criticizing the food and beverage industry’s efforts to reduce marketing to children in the European Union. Part of the StanMark Project, which receives EU funding, A Junk-Free Childhood 2012 focuses on the EU Pledge signed by 20 companies that agreed to stop marketing products to children younger than age 12 and to submit to independent monitoring. Citing data from the 2011 EU Pledge Monitoring Report, IASO notes a “disappointing” 29 percent decline in the number of advertisements for “non-compliant” products that were viewed by children between January and March 2011 as compared to those viewed between January and March 2005. “While for some countries there were significant decreases in advertising (e.g. in Poland, Ireland and France), in other countries significant increases were recorded, including Slovenia (up 26%) and the Netherlands (up 38%),” states the report. “The problem…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that print and Web advertisements for Alpro (UK) Ltd.’s almond milk are not misleading. ASA received two complaints alleging that the advertisements misled consumers because the product contains only 2 percent almonds and because the ads featured images implying that almonds could be “milked.” Alpro countered, however, that “almond milk” is “commonly used as a descriptor for this type of product,” with “the two leading international branded varieties both [having] an almond content of 2%.” “They explained the product was made by processing roasted almonds into a creamy paste, which was then blended with spring water and other ingredients and nutrients, but that no additional flavorings were added to the product,” according to ASA. “They said the number of almonds used defined the texture and taste intensity of the product and that consumers liked the product with 2% roasted almonds, which equated…
“U.S. food companies are reaching children by embedding their products in simple and enticing games for touch-screen phones and tablets,” writes The Wall Street Journal’s Anton Troianovski in this September 18, 2012, article examining how food and beverage manufacturers allegedly use mobile games and phone apps to sidestep “government and public pressure to limit advertising to minors on TV and the Web.” According to Troianovski, some of these companies have argued that food-branded apps are a cost-effective marketing tool that would not violate any advertising restrictions because parents much purchase the games first. “We don’t view it as our place to be a superparent—the nanny of the parents or the children to say what products that can see and what games they can play,” Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative Director Elaine Kolish told the Journal. Troianovski notes, however, that the proliferation of such apps has raised questions among consumer…
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has released a 60-page report in conjunction with its National Summit on Alcohol Marketing to Young People that accuses industry of targeting children with new media tactics as well as alcohol-flavored food and cosmetic products. Urging “more robust policy and stronger regulatory oversight,” the report aims to document current alcohol advertising tactics in Australia, examine the impact of these tactics on drinking patterns, and make a case for regulatory and statutory reform. In particular, the report claims that “the introduction of digital technologies has opened up new platforms for marketing and promotion, with alcohol companies aggressively harnessing the marketing potential of online video channels, mobile phones, interactive games, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.” It also argues that alcohol-flavored foods and cosmetics, such as vodka-flavored lip gloss, not only “circumvent most existing regulations regarding marketing and the placement of alcoholic products” but introduce…
The U.K. Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has issued a statement urging regulators to prohibit all TV advertising for foods high in sugar, fat or salt before the 9 p.m. watershed. Citing a 2003 Food Standards Agency review that allegedly measured the impact of food promotion on children, RCPCH President Hilary Cass reportedly said that the current regulations are too weak to protect young viewers from “commercial exploitation.” “Although they are trying to avoid junk food advertising around specific children’s program, you’ve still got it around soaps and other programs that children watch,” Cass was quoted as saying. “So the only realistic way to do it is to have no junk food advertising before the watershed in any programs at all.” RCPCH has endorsed the International Obesity Taskforce’s Sydney principles “for achieving a substantial level of protection for children against the commercial promotion of foods and beverages.”…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has withdrawn its previous opinion reversing an order that approved the settlement of class claims against Kellogg Co., although it has reached the same conclusion in its new opinion. Dennis v. Kellogg Co., Nos. 11-55674, -55706 (9th Cir., decided September 4, 2012). Information about the withdrawn opinion is included in Issue 447 of this Update. The plaintiffs claimed that Kellogg lacked supporting scientific evidence for marketing and promotional statements that some of its cereal products could improve children’s cognitive functions. Apparently, the court had failed to consider the plaintiffs’ preliminary argument that it could not address the validity of the cy pres distribution of funds that remained in the settlement fund. They contended that the issue “will not be ripe until it is determined that available cash remains in that fund after the claims process has concluded.” As the court observed in a footnote…
