New rules for advertising junk food and drink to children are causing chaos across the food industry.

In June, Asda was forced to abandon a children’s commercial for wholemilk that was judged to have too much fat content.

The same month the British Egg Information Service was banned from re-running the classic 1950’s ‘go to work on an egg’ advert starring Tony Hancock as it failed to promote a ‘balanced diet’.

According to the new rules introduced in April, food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) are not allowed to be screened on TV when children are likely to be watching.

Marketing director of Asda, Rick Bendel called for a rethink and a little common sense to be applied.

Speaking to the BrandRepublic website he pondered: “are we saying that kids shouldn’t drink whole milk as part of a healthy diet?”

What is unhealthy?
What constitutes healthy food is at the centre of a bid by the Children’s Food Campaign to ban junk food advertising to past 9pm.

Central to the bill is to help in the fight against childhood obesity which costs the NHS alone over £1bn according to the latest government statistics.

Campaign coordinator Richard Watts says their plans are backed by over 230 MP’s and the majority of parents.

“Evidence shows food advertising works and the vast amount of advertising is for junk food so if we reduce it then children eat less junk.”

Are we overregulating?  Listen to what Richard Watts has to say. (Dur: 47secs)  

 

His views are not shared by all of the food industry who believe that there is no such thing as healthy or unhealthy food and that the new rules should apply to all foods.

The vending industry is the latest to feel the effects of these rules as the big companies like Britvic and Nestle are forced to find other ways of reaching children.

Automatic Vending Association manager Jan Podsiadly says the profile raises inconsistencies and creates a “real headache.”

“Cheese is too fat, apples are too sweet, no definition of healthy food exists, it’s about lifestyle; the person, activity and diet. 

“When you isolate diet and say diet is healthy it’s a nonsense, if things were unhealthy then we wouldn’t eat them at all,” he continued.

Some believe the rules don’t go far enough however, as they only apply to those prorgammes designed specifically for children.

“The reality is that many children watch programmes that are designed for adults, such as reality TV shows or Coronation Street, and will still be exposed to advertising,” says Colin Walker from the consumer watchdog Which?

Underground food culture
Advertising companies are becoming increasily “devious” in an attempt to bypass the new rules.

According to reports in the press, Skittles paid a six-figure sum to set up a profile on Bebo, the social networking site, which has already attracted over 50,000 hits.

Studies show that children as young as three are affected by advertising and those as young as five start to understand subliminal messages including brand placements, web based games or by particiapating in games on company websites.

Which?’s Colin Walker said far from wrapping children in cotton wool, the new ways companies are finding to target children is potentially very harmful.

“The dangerous thing about advertising on the internet is that children know a lot more than adults so they don’t know what children are doing.”

Does TV advertising affect children? Listen to Colin Walker from Which? (Dur: 51secs)

 

Children’s advertising is a lucrative business with the market worth over £4bn according to the charity Childwise.

However, such figures are not a concern in countries like Sweden where advertising to children under the age of 12 is banned and the majority of the public consider it ‘not fair play’.

Seed to sandwich
Britain is a country in love with celebrity chefs but has forgotten to feed itself, according to recent findings.

The report produced by the Linking Environment and Farming organisation (LEAF), found that nearly one in three adults had not visited a farm.

It also found that 22% of adults surveyed didn’t know where bacon and sausages originate from and 47% couldn’t tell you the main ingredient of porridge came from a farm.

The food industry says this confirms anecdotal evidence that people are increasingly disconnected from the food they eat and where it comes from.

They say that people and increasingly children are being swayed by the bright lights of supermarkets and the advertising of the big conglomerates.

Food scares and financial costs have in recent times forced schools not to go on school farm visits, however that appears to be changing with the debate firmly fixed on diet, education and the environment.

In an attempt to redress the situation, the government announced the outdoor learning manifesto ploughing £2.7m into schemes to get children out of the classroom.

Countryside Foundation for Education runs school days to encourage foster better links between pupils and the environment.

Hampshire's education co-ordinator, Jo Britton, says that children always get a “media skewed image” of what goes on down on a farm so interaction is important.

“Today we had local, urban and inner city schools and all three needed the input of the day as they don’t interact with it [countryside], they drive everywhere, and don’t take walks to learn things incidentally. 

“Parents think that children will just learn where their food comes from by seeing it in a field but unless people tell them they won’t know,” she added.