UK advertising committee widens restrictions on food and drinks ads
The uk's Committee for Advertising Practice (cap) on April 11 decided to widen restrictions on food and drink advertising which are targeting under-16-year-olds. The new rules will cover non-broadcast media also. The new restrictions state that products should not "condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children'. They now extend to media such as magazines, online ads, newspapers and billboards and cinema. cap has also banned the use of characters and celebrities in campaigns aimed at pre-school or primary school children.
The restrictions will come into force from July 1. They reject the obesity reduction strategy adopted by Ofcom, uk's independent communications regulator. Ofcom rules apply only to tv ads and are based on a nutrient-profiling model of the country's Food Standards Agency (fsa). It identifies products high in fat, salt and sugar. cap said the model was inaccurate and decided to apply a wider range of restrictions on all food and soft drink products except fruit and vegetables. Some campaigners criticised cap for dropping the fsa model.