Dannon has become the 15th major food and beverage company to join the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.
The Initiative was launched in November 2006 by the Council of Better Business Bureaus to provide companies that advertise foods and beverages to children with a transparent and accountable advertising self-regulation mechanism. The Initiative is aimed at shifting the mix of advertising messaging directed to children under 12 to encourage healthier dietary choices and healthy lifestyles. The guidelines are based on a variety of sources including the FDA and World Health Organization.
This means 100% of TV and other advertising will be for foods with restricted fat content, caps on sodium and added sugars and minimum calcium requirements. The last shouldn’t be hard to meet, since Dannon makes yogurt and other dairy products.
Per initiative guidelines, the company will also restrict the use of licensed characters, agree not to advertise in schools, agree not to do any product placement in media targeted to kids under 12 and limit depictions of food in online gaming to those that meet nutritional criteria.
Childhood obesity and its related diseases — heart disease, diabetes, joint problems — are the top health threat facing the nation’s children, according to the Surgeon General, and could mean a shorter average life span for children than for their parents.