Food manufacturing giant Unilever has appealed a decision by the Advertising Standards Board which ordered that an advertisement for its Paddle Pop products be taken off air over a claimed breach in the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI). The advertisement for Unilever’s Bubble Gum Berry Lava Paddle Pop and the Hero or Villain Choc Orange Paddle Pop is set in a jungle and a voiceover describes the products. In what is being described by Unilever as a far-reaching precedent, the... ...Read more »

A new study by American and British scientists has found that colourful food appeals more to children than adults. The study, published in the January 2012 issue of the American journal Acta Paediatrica, found that meals with seven different items and six different colours are particularly appealing to children, while adults tend to prefer fewer colours ‑ only three items and three colours. Cornell University’s professor of marketing, Professor Brian Wansink and the study’s co-authors, Kevin... ...Read more »

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has blasted South Australia Health Minister John Hill over a claim that voluntary limits on junk food advertising aimed at children are not working. Speaking at the Don Dunstan Foundation yesterday, Health and Ageing Minister John Hill said tighter regulation is needed on junk food advertising aimed at children. He referred to new research by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s most respected scientific... ...Read more »

Australian parents’ activist group the Parent’s Jury has slammed two major food companies, Kelloggs and McDonalds, claiming that their marketing campaigns in Australia are misleading. Both companies featured in the Parents’ Jury’s ‘Fame and Shame Awards 2011’. McDonald’s use of Australian cricket hero Shane Warne to endorse its Chicken McBites came under fire for “using sport to promote unhealthy food which influences children”. Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain cereal, which the... ...Read more »

A new study, just published in The Journal of Pediatrics, has found that television food advertisements can have more impact on a child’s food choices than advice from their own parents. Dr Christopher Ferguson and colleagues at Texas A&M International University, in the US, studied 75 children ranging in age from three to five years. All of the children watched two cartoons, with commercials shown between each cartoon. Half of the children watched a commercial for French fries, and the other... ...Read more »

The Cancer Council of New South Wales has renewed calls for tighter regulations on using promotional characters on food packaging. It claims that nearly 75 per cent of promotional characters on Australian food packets spruik products that are high in fat, salt, and sugar. Research conducted by Cancer Council NSW with the University of Sydney’s Prevention Research Collaboration found that the market was “saturated” with licensed merchandise characters, such as cartoon characters, promoting less... ...Read more »

Food manufacturers including Nestlé, Hershey and Kraft Foods have published their own uniform guidelines on the nutritional content of products advertised to US children. The criteria, published yesterday, are an attempt to regain the initiative over the issue from the US government, which has put forward plans for criteria for the food industry to follow. The US government, which is facing rising levels of obesity, published its set of “voluntary principles” in April and invited public... ...Read more »

UK supermarket chain Tesco is launching a healthy-eating range for children in the UK called Tesco Goodness, which is already on sale at its stores in the US.The range is a selection of healthy snacks, convenient chilled prepared meals and lunchbox fillers developed to meet children’s nutritional needs, the UK retailer said. It is also the first own-label range to be introduced to the UK market from Tesco’s international business. Goodness is already available in Tesco’s Fresh &... ...Read more »

Children’s exposure to television advertising for unhealthy fast food has not changed since the introduction of industry self-regulation, and fast food ads are significantly more frequent overall, according to new research from the University of Sydney. The research, led by dietician Lana Hebden and published in the Medical Journal of Australia today, analysed all TV ads broadcast during a four-day sample period, in both May 2009 and April 2010. The Australian Quick Service Restaurant Industry... ...Read more »

Partnering with national children’s charity HeartKids, Donut King stores across Victoria will today (14 February) launch a campaign to raise thousands in support of families with kids who suffer from heart defects. Five ambassadors, including AFL legend Glenn Archer, Rugby great Robbie Kearns, and Melbourne Cup jockey Luke Nolen, will gear up for some delightful donut decorating at 12:30pm to launch the fundraising effort with some special patients from The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). The... ...Read more »