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28|03|06

Television advertising of food and drink products to children

Ofcom has been asked by the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to examine the case – and options – for restrictions on the television advertising of food and drink products to children. This work has been undertaken against a background of public health concerns about rising childhood obesity due to dietary imbalance; specifically the over-consumption of food and drink products high in fat, salt or sugar – so-called HFSS products.

Background

In July 2004, in response to an earlier request from Government, Ofcom published wide-ranging research which showed that television advertising of food and drink products has a modest direct effect on children’s food preferences. The research showed that indirect effects are likely to be larger, but there is insufficient evidence to determine the size of these effects. However, the research also concluded that the influence of advertising is small when compared with other factors potentially linked to childhood obesity such as exercise, trends in family eating habits, school policy, public understanding of nutrition and food labelling.

In November 2004, in its “Choosing Health” White Paper, the Department of Health asked Ofcom to consult on proposals to tighten the rules on broadcast advertising, sponsorship and promotion of food and drink products. Those proposals would be informed in part by work by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which had not been concluded at that time.

The FSA subsequently delivered to Ofcom its nutrient profiling model which might potentially be used to differentiate between different types of products so that restrictions on food and drink advertising to children could be appropriately targeted.

Ofcom has since sought the views of consumer organisations, broadcasters, its co-regulatory partner BCAP (Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice - responsible for setting advertising content rules), advertisers and others. Ofcom has also assessed recent academic research and has conducted its own market impact analysis.

In detailed discussions with a broad range of organisations it has become clear that there is currently no clear consensus on the most appropriate course of action beyond a general agreement that some form of action is appropriate and necessary.

Proposals

Ofcom is today setting out four alternative proposals for new restrictions:.

OPTION 1: Timing restrictions on specific food and drink products

• No HFSS product advertising to be shown in programmes specifically made for children;
• No HFSS product advertising to be shown in programmes of particular appeal to children up to 9 years old;
• No sponsorship by HFSS products of programmes affected by the above restrictions;
• BCAP’s rules will be applied to food and drink advertising and sponsorship.

OPTION 2: Timing restrictions on all food and drink advertising

• No food or drink advertising to be shown in programmes specifically made for children;
• No food or drink advertising to be shown in programmes of particular appeal to children up to 9 years old;
• No sponsorship by food or drink products of programmes affected by the above restrictions;
• The above restrictions do not apply to healthy eating campaigns supported or endorsed by the Government;
• BCAP’s rules will be applied to food and drink advertising and sponsorship.

OPTION 3: Volume based restrictions on all food and drink products

• No food or drink advertising at all to be shown in programmes made for pre-school children.
• A limit to the amount of food and drink advertising when children are most likely to be watching. This could be:
• a limit of 30 seconds per hour between 6am and 9am and between 3pm and 6pm on week days, as well as 6am to 1pm at the weekend.
• a limit of 60 seconds per hour during family viewing times – between 6pm and 8pm on week days and between 1pm and 8pm at the weekend; and
• a limit of 30 seconds per hour throughout the day for children’s channels – except pre-school channels, which would carry no food or drink advertising at all.
• For context, cable and satellite broadcasters are allowed to show an average of nine minutes of advertising per hour; terrestrial broadcasters can show an average of seven minutes per hour, rising to eight minutes at peak times (7am to 9am and 6pm to 11pm). These proposals would therefore restrict the advertising of food and drink products to a small minority (between 7 and 12%) of all available advertising airtime.
• BCAP’s rules will be applied to food and drink advertising and sponsorship.

OPTION 4: an invitation to propose a workable and effective option, combining some or all of the above and/or new elements, which commands industry support

With this last option Ofcom is making an open invitation to all parties to put forward an alternative common position, if one can be identified, through the consultation process.

This fourth option could draw from – or combine – some or all of the measures in the three options. Alternatively, it could be a completely new proposal. However, Ofcom will only consider proposals which both command broad support across broadcasters, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers and which also demonstrate a realistic prospect of contributing positively and significantly to the social policy aim of altering children’s preferences towards – and actual consumption of – HFSS products.

Ofcom Chief Executive Stephen Carter said: “Proposals to increase regulation in open and competitive markets should always be subject to rigorous scrutiny.”

He added: “With childhood obesity, the case for targeted action has been made; but which action – and how this should be implemented – is the focus for this final stage of consultation.”

The consultation closes on 6 June 2006. The full consultation document can be found by following the link below:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/foodads/

Ends.

Notes

1. BCAP is the advertising and broadcasting industry self-regulatory code-setting body, to which Ofcom has contracted out its broadcast advertising content regulation functions. BCAP has, in its position as the “owner” of the advertising standards code, submitted to Ofcom a set of rule proposals for consultation which would restrain the techniques used in food & drink advertisements to children. These rules would impact on any encouragement to over-consumption or to pestering, on the use of promotions and offers, on the use of licensed characters and celebrities, and on the way that nutrition and health claims are made.

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