BBB National Programs Agrees with Rudd Center Study Recommendation to Increase Restaurant Participation in Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative

McLean, VA, June 23, 2021 – Maureen Enright, Vice President, Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, BBB National Programs today issued the following statement:

BBB National Programs agrees with the Rudd Center’s recommendation that more restaurant companies should join our Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI).

For nearly 15 years, CFBAI has focused on ensuring that foods in ads directed to children meet strict nutrition criteria. We invite other restaurant companies to join McDonald’s and Burger King in their commitment to continued improvement in the children’s food advertising landscape using CFBAI’s strict nutrition criteria to determine the foods that can be advertised to children.

McDonald’s and Burger King, the only CFBAI participants assessed in the Rudd Center’s Fast Food FACTS 2021 study, have committed to limiting their child-directed advertising to foods meeting CFBAI’s strict nutrition criteria, which include limits on calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. The FACTS study confirmed that the McDonald’s advertisements found on children’s channels are CFBAI-compliant and that Burger King did not advertise on children’s channels during the study period, consistent with its practices in recent years.

About the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative: The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a division of BBB National Programs, is a self-regulation program created to improve the landscape of food advertising to children. CFBAI works with leading food, beverage, and quick service restaurant companies to set and implement Uniform Nutrition Standards, which specify the science-based nutritional criteria for foods and beverages that can be advertised to children under age 12.