Ban on Advertising for Sugary/Salty Foods

Ayla

The BAI just released its new regulations regarding advertising during children's programming with effect from 1 July 2013:

http://www.bai.ie/?p=2792


Among other things:

The following are some of the types of food and drink whose promotion to children will be restricted:

Potato crisps
Most breakfast cereals;
Biscuits and cakes;
Confectionery;
French fries;
Most pizzas;
Mayonnaise;
Cola and other carbonated sweetened drinks;
Most sausages and burgers;
Butter and margarine;
Sweetened milkshakes and sweetened fruit juices.
Advertisements for the above food and drink will not be permitted in children’s programmes.

Wondering how they define "high" levels of sugar/salt/fat? For instance, Ribena may not have sugar but it has loads of artificial sweeteners, which can actually be worse than pure sugar. And I wonder what this means for adverts of fast food restaurants?

runawaybishop

It just means the ads will be after the watershed

Ayla

Yes, clearly that's exactly what it will mean. But for many parents that will be a good thing b/c how many times do we hear parents complaining about junior wanting x,y,z because they saw it on telly? Watershed (technically) means adult-tv time, so this would avoid this complaint.

runawaybishop

I don't think its a bad step, don't get me wrong, but i am not confident it will make much of a difference. At the end of the day it comes down to the parents and their attitude to food.

Rasmus

Maybe we'll be seeing giant 'mouth-watering' burgers on the side of buses.

runawaybishop

Rasmus wrote: »

Maybe we'll be seeing giant 'mouth-watering' burgers on the side of buses.

The reality is so disappointing

implausible

runawaybishop wrote: »

I don't think its a bad step, don't get me wrong, but i am not confident it will make much of a difference. At the end of the day it comes down to the parents and their attitude to food.

Not only their attitude, their knowledge. There are parents out there who will be mystified as to why breakfast cereals and fruit juices are on the list.

Thank feck for Saorview and RTE Junior - no ads!

kodoherty93

This ban is only relevant for children who watch rte2. But any household that has cable or sky there is a 95% they're watching nickelodeon meaning this ban is quite futile

silverharp

implausible wrote: »

Not only their attitude, their knowledge. There are parents out there who will be mystified as to why breakfast cereals and fruit juices are on the list.

Thank feck for Saorview and RTE Junior - no ads!

to be honest that group of parents wont be aware that there is a list

How Strange

Why butter and margarine? I doubt that kids are gorging themselves on pounds of butter. On margarine is processed but again how much of are kids eating at a time or over the course of a day?

annamcmahon

They already have a similar ban in the UK which is why nick Jr is full of ads for toys and personal insolvency companies. I'd rather food ads.

Mr.Wemmick

The hidden salt content in food for kids is deadly, for adults too.. kids are only suppose to have 4 grams a salt a day but most processed foods, bread, sauce jars, cereals, and a lot of so-called healthy foods/breads have far too much salt in them.

As a parent it is very hard to monitor - adults should only have 6 grams of salt a day but most consumed 10g daily.. dread to think what kids eat. The government needs to do more to tackle the food industry instead of just banning adds and treating parents like they're stupid.

lynski

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

The hidden salt content in food for kids is deadly, for adults too.. kids are only suppose to have 4 grams a salt a day but most processed foods, bread, sauce jars, cereals, and a lot of so-called healthy foods/breads have far too much salt in them.

As a parent it is very hard to monitor - adults should only have 6 grams of salt a day but most consumed 10g daily.. dread to think what kids eat. The government needs to do more to tackle the food industry instead of just banning adds and treating parents like they're stupid.

but most people do not want to know, it is too much effort. you have the ham company talking about 'natural' ingredients in their ham, only one of the their hams mind you. 'eat fresh' is another one, wholegrain promise, all that stuff.
I know children on low-fat diets because their mother refuses to believe that they need fat in their diet, others who think that weetabix is healthy, as healthy as porridge, formage frais is not only a snack for a child but a necessary daily dietary requirement. we are so clueless, no more clueless then our parents but they did not have the choice we have and we trust too much. I can only find 1 cordial on the market without sweetners in it and it is an own-brand one. there is no way a child should be regularly consuming aspartame and saccharin.
I think it is great that these ads will be banned, but more truth in advertising is needed anyway - that bloody ad for the follow-on milk with the giant cup and the the text underneath it faintly telling you it is a lie - grrrrrr.
i think there should be no ads with children's programmes, but as we more or less to not have a tv and after the 24th will not it is not a problem in our house.

Mr.Wemmick

My kids don't watch normal live tv with adds, but kids stuff that is taped.. We do too, so we don't get exposed to the adds at all.

I agree that parents don't want to know, or do not have the time to stop and think or look.. it takes fceking ages to read the salt labels in supermarkets. It drives me nuts, bit I do it..

Salt is a silent killer: raising blood pressure undetected over long periods of time which affects the kidneys causing disease/lowering function which in turn affects other organs like the heart with strokes/disease. Ask anyone living with a chronic kidney disease how they feel about processed food and salt content.. we are going to see a lot more health problems in younger people ( indeed, as we are now) putting further strain on an already expensive run health system -- we're raising our kids to be salt and sugar addicts with their diets of bread, sugary drinks and processed crap.. even healthy stuff we think should be okay like healthy seed or nut breads have often more salt in them that normal wholemeal bread. Going to restaurants regularly, or having take-aways, also increases our normal intake of salt, sugar and fat content.. it annoys me cos' I love eating out as do my kids.

In my Grandmother's time, there was more ignorance yes, but they couldn't afford much processed food so they were healthier as they made their own bread, grew their own vegetables etc. They ate food in season too and ate it fresh.. my mother has often said, people who grow their own veg, bake their own bread, eat their own farmed beef, chickens etc don't feed it crap or add bad things to it when cooking so it's healthier for the table.. the more over produced food is, the more crap goes in it to make it last longer making more profit for the food companies.

It's a huge industry and governments are afraid to go near it so instead the pressure is on parents to be more informed and spend time reading the labels.