Children's Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI)

The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) was created to improve the landscape of food advertising to children. Under CFBAI, participants voluntarily commit that, in advertising primarily directed to children, they will either not advertise foods or beverages to children at all or advertise only products that meet CFBAI’s strict Uniform Nutrition Criteria. Participants also do not advertise in elementary or middle schools.

Program Guidance

CFBAI’s Core Principles set requirements regarding media coverage and nutrition criteria for food advertising to children. CFBAI has evolved over the years to respond to changes in the children’s advertising landscape.

The Core Principles cover child-directed advertising on TV, digital and mobile media (websites, video and computer games, apps, YouTube, product placements and integrations, and influencers), radio, print, and word of mouth.

CFBAI Overview Graphic

Foods advertised to children by CFBAI participants must meet CFBAI’s Uniform Nutrition Criteria, which set limits on calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, and minimum requirements for important food groups and key nutrients.

21 leading food, beverage, and quick-service restaurants participate in CFBAI by developing individual pledges that set out how the company will meet the requirements of CFBAI’s Core Principles.

CFBAI’s 21 participants represent the majority of child-directed food advertising expenditures in the United States and most of the food advertising on children’s TV programming.

CFBAI monitors and evaluates the participants’ compliance with their pledge commitments, and companies also submit annual self-assessments. CFBAI publishes an annual report on compliance and progress.

2023 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2024)
2022 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2023)
2021 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2022)
2020 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2021)
2019 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2020)
2018 CFBAI and CCAI Compliance Report (December 2019)
CCAI 2017 Annual Report
CCAI 2016 Annual Report

CFBAI Participants

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Children's Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI)

Modeled after CFBAI, CCAI was created in 2016 by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) for small-to-medium sized confectionery companies. All CCAI participants commit to not engage in child-directed advertising for children under age 13 or in elementary schools.