In an article supported, in part, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, authors Jennifer Harris and Samantha Graff suggest that the findings of psychological research about the subliminal effects of food advertising on young people should be considered when advertisers defend their practices by invoking the First Amendment’s commercial speech doctrine. Harris, who is affiliated with Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy, and Graff, with Public Health Law & Policy in Oakland, California, contend that U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment jurisprudence is premised on the understanding that consumers use the free flow of commercial information to make logical decisions. “The commercial speech doctrine is built on a rational choice theory of behavior,” they claim. But because advertisers often resort to newer forms of advertising using “implicit messages” intended to “covertly” influence behavior and because young people are purportedly unable to resist food advertising or consider the content rationally, the…
Tag Archives children
A U.K.-based public interest charity has filed 54 separate complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) contending that the subject companies, including Cadbury and Pringles, are promoting food products high in sugars, fat or salt to children online. Described by the Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) as a “super complaint,” the case reflects the findings of a report the charity released in December 2011 claiming that food advertisers use brand characters, animations, games, competitions, and videos online and through social media to heavily market junk food to children. It calls for the U.K. government to close a loophole allowing ads for products that cannot be aired during children’s programming to be freely promoted online. According to CFC spokesperson Malcolm Clark, youth marketing standards applicable to TV should be matched online. The existing code apparently states, “marketing communications must not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children.”…
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which had sought in 2011 to increase protections for children working in agriculture, has agreed to ”re-propose the portion of its regulation on child labor in agriculture interpreting the ‘parental exemption.’” The original proposal sought to update a 40-year-old rule in light of data showing that “children are significantly more likely to be killed while performing agricultural work than while working in all other industries combined.” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack applauded the action, saying, “The Labor Department listened to farmers and ranchers across the country. This announcement and the additional opportunity for comment represent a common-sense approach to strengthen our agricultural economy while keeping kids safe.” Critical responses from a number of lawmakers and the agricultural sector led DOL to reconsider its action. Under the revised rule, children of any age employed by their parent or a person standing in the place of the…
A recent study has reportedly raised concerns about whether exposure to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) compromises vaccine effectiveness in children. Philippe Grandjean, et al., “Serum Vaccine Antibody Concentrations in Children Exposed to Perfluorinated Compounds,” Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2012. Approved for use in some food contact applications such as microwavable paper, PFCs “have emerged as important food contaminants,” according to the study’s authors, who gathered data from 587 participants in a prospective birth cohort study based in the Faroe Islands. According to a January 24, 2012, Harvard School of Public Health press release, “The results showed that PFC exposure was associated with lower antibody responses to immunizations and an increased risk of antibody levels in children lower than those needed to provide long-term protection.” In particular, the authors noted that “a two-fold greater concentration of three major PFCs was associated with a 49% lower level of serum antibodies…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule updating the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs “to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Effective March 26, 2012, the rule seeks to reduce childhood obesity by requiring schools to (i) “increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals”; (ii) “reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals”; and (iii) “meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements.” According to USDA, the new standards reflect the recommendations of an Institute of Medicine expert panel as well as 132,000 public comments. Estimated to add $3.2 billion to school meal costs over five years, the final rule only partially implements the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010, which also includes a mandate to set nutritional standards for foods and beverages…
A recent report issued by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) has described online food marketing to children as “pervasive,” with more than 75 percent of websites targeting children with high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products “linked to a corresponding product or brand page on a social networking site” such as Facebook or Twitter. Titled “The 21st century gingerbread house: How companies are marketing junk food to children online,” the report concluded that 80 percent of 100 food brand websites analyzed between April and July 2011 did not meet the Food Standard Agency’s nutrient profiling standards for advertising during children’s TV programming. In particular, the report highlighted the use of (i) “bespoke websites which appeal to children through the use of language intended for, spoken by or directly to children”; (ii) “brand characters, cartoons and animations which are enormously popular with children”; (iii) “free gifts including…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity recently published a study claiming that “children are disproportionately targeted by food company Websites using branded computer games, known as advergames,” which allegedly promote “calorie-dense nutrient-poor foods.” Jennifer Harris, et al., “US Food Company Branded Advergames on the Internet: Children’s exposure and effects on snack consumption,” Journal of Children and Media, November 2011. According to the study’s abstract, Rudd Center researchers found that 1.2 million children visit food company advergame sites every month and that “playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food.”
A Cleveland judge has reportedly decided that an obese third grader who was removed from his mother’s custody after she was apparently unable to control his weight can now be removed from foster care. County child welfare officials had convinced the court in October 2011 that the 218-pound child was in imminent danger; they had been working with the family for more than a year after the boy was taken to a hospital with breathing problems. According to a news source, the court found that the boy had lost about 25 pounds during his two months in foster care. He ordered the honor student to live with his uncle following a hearing that took place on the child’s ninth birthday. See The Slatest, November 29, 2011; msnbc.com, December 14, 2011.
McDonald’s Corp. has reportedly responded to a San Francisco ban on giving away toys with its Happy Meals® by allowing parents to purchase the toys with a 10-cent charitable contribution when they buy a Happy Meal®. While the toy purchase is purportedly a separate transaction that complies with the new ordinance, it will still require a Happy Meal® purchase because toys cannot not be obtained by those who do not purchase the meal for their children. Previously, the toys could be purchased without buying a Happy Meal®. According to the company, the donations will help build a new Ronald McDonald House where parents of sick children at a University of California, San Francisco, hospital currently under construction will be able to stay. At least one public health advocate, evidently unhappy with the company’s action, was quoted as saying that McDonald’s “has developed a response to the law that allows them…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has issued a December 2011 report claiming that many popular cereal brands marketed to children contain “just as much sugar as a dessert—or more.” After reviewing 84 popular brands, the report’s authors alleged that three out of four cereals failed “to meet the federal government’s proposed voluntary guidelines for food nutritious enough to be marketed to children,” with 21 cereals exceeding the sugar limit “recommended by the industry’s own nutrition initiative.” In particular, EWG purportedly found that (i) 56 cereals contained “more than 24 to 26 percent sugar by weight”; (ii) 71 cereals exceeded 140 milligrams of sodium and 10 exceeded 210 milligrams; (iii) seven cereals exceeded 1 gram of saturated fat; and (iv) “at least 26 cereals are not predominantly whole-grain.” The group also criticized cereal companies for opposing the 2016 nutrition guidelines suggested by the federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Food Marketed…
