To Pledge or Not to Pledge? There Really Is No Question.
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has made clear that policymakers are demanding accountability from companies that sell and manufacture foods and beverages. A recently leaked draft of the MAHA Commission Strategy Report indicates that this demand for greater accountability extends to food and beverage advertising.
Although not yet official the draft report contemplates federal guidelines to limit the marketing of certain foods to children. The contemplated scope of these potential guidelines is unknown, but past proposals from the Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies have defined “children” to include teenagers, extended marketing restrictions to product packaging, and set nutrition requirements that few processed foods could meet.
The specter of federal food advertising guidelines stems from a perception that action is needed to ensure that companies advertise responsibly to children. But new government regulations are not inevitable. There is another option.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has encouraged food companies to proactively address policymakers’ concerns through voluntary industry action rather than requiring lawmakers to compel them to do so through government regulation. And industry is beginning to heed that call.
For example, in response to lawmakers’ concerns about color additives, many food companies and industry trade associations have committed to the voluntary removal of such additives over the next several years. The Food and Drug Administration’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Kyle Diamantas, has applauded such moves, stating, “When companies take initiative without waiting for regulation, it shows a deep respect for consumer trust. . . . [I]t’s a reflection of evolving values and our shared mission to Make America Healthy Again.”
BBB National Program’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) provides a way for industry to take similar voluntary action to address lawmakers’ concerns about food marketing to children. Since 2007, CFBAI has brought together a coalition of leading food, beverage, and quick-serve restaurant companies committed to proactively improving child-directed food advertising through voluntary self-regulation. Companies in CFBAI pledge not to advertise any foods or beverages to children under age 13 unless the products meet clear nutrition criteria and not to advertise any foods or beverages to students in elementary or middle schools or to children under age 6.
These commitments, which exceed any legal or regulatory requirements, have dramatically improved the landscape of child-directed food advertising. Today, most food and beverage companies no longer advertise any food or beverages in media primarily directed to children.
CFBAI commitments work because they are more than just promises. Companies participating in CFBAI are held accountable for their commitment to responsible child-directed marketing through independent third-party monitoring by BBB National Programs, CFBAI’s program administrator.
BBB National Programs monitors and publicly reports on participants’ compliance with their commitments. This accountability mechanism gives credibility to CFBAI commitments by proving to lawmakers that companies are “walking the walk” of their commitment to responsible food marketing to children.
Food advertisers have a choice. They can be proactive in addressing concerns about food advertising to children by joining CFBAI and proving their commitment to responsible child-directed food advertising, or they can wait for government regulation to hold them accountable. The time to decide is now.
Learn more about enrolling in CFBAI.
Although not yet official the draft report contemplates federal guidelines to limit the marketing of certain foods to children. The contemplated scope of these potential guidelines is unknown, but past proposals from the Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies have defined “children” to include teenagers, extended marketing restrictions to product packaging, and set nutrition requirements that few processed foods could meet.
The specter of federal food advertising guidelines stems from a perception that action is needed to ensure that companies advertise responsibly to children. But new government regulations are not inevitable. There is another option.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has encouraged food companies to proactively address policymakers’ concerns through voluntary industry action rather than requiring lawmakers to compel them to do so through government regulation. And industry is beginning to heed that call.
For example, in response to lawmakers’ concerns about color additives, many food companies and industry trade associations have committed to the voluntary removal of such additives over the next several years. The Food and Drug Administration’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Kyle Diamantas, has applauded such moves, stating, “When companies take initiative without waiting for regulation, it shows a deep respect for consumer trust. . . . [I]t’s a reflection of evolving values and our shared mission to Make America Healthy Again.”
BBB National Program’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) provides a way for industry to take similar voluntary action to address lawmakers’ concerns about food marketing to children. Since 2007, CFBAI has brought together a coalition of leading food, beverage, and quick-serve restaurant companies committed to proactively improving child-directed food advertising through voluntary self-regulation. Companies in CFBAI pledge not to advertise any foods or beverages to children under age 13 unless the products meet clear nutrition criteria and not to advertise any foods or beverages to students in elementary or middle schools or to children under age 6.
These commitments, which exceed any legal or regulatory requirements, have dramatically improved the landscape of child-directed food advertising. Today, most food and beverage companies no longer advertise any food or beverages in media primarily directed to children.
CFBAI commitments work because they are more than just promises. Companies participating in CFBAI are held accountable for their commitment to responsible child-directed marketing through independent third-party monitoring by BBB National Programs, CFBAI’s program administrator.
BBB National Programs monitors and publicly reports on participants’ compliance with their commitments. This accountability mechanism gives credibility to CFBAI commitments by proving to lawmakers that companies are “walking the walk” of their commitment to responsible food marketing to children.
Food advertisers have a choice. They can be proactive in addressing concerns about food advertising to children by joining CFBAI and proving their commitment to responsible child-directed food advertising, or they can wait for government regulation to hold them accountable. The time to decide is now.
Learn more about enrolling in CFBAI.