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WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's largest food companies say they
will cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children, proposing
their own set of advertising standards after rejecting similar
guidelines proposed by the federal government.

A coalition of food companies -- including General Mills, ConAgra
Foods and Kellogg -- announced the guidelines this week. The
companies said the effort will vastly change what is advertised,
forcing them to curb advertising on one out of three products
currently marketed to children.

The new standards, which will allow companies to advertise food
and beverage products to children if they meet certain nutritional
criteria, could force some brands to change recipes to include less
sodium, fat, sugars and calories. While many companies have
trumpeted their own efforts to market healthier foods to kids, the
agreement would apply the same standards to all of the
participating companies.

"Now foods from different companies, such as cereals or canned
pastas, will meet the same nutrition criteria, rather than similar
but slightly different company-specific criteria," said Elaine
Kolish of the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative,
a group formed by the industry to address marketing issues.

The group's proposal was pushed along by a government effort to
do the same thing. The Federal Trade Commission and several other
government agencies were directed by Congress to come up with
voluntary guidelines for marketing junk food to children, and those
were issued earlier this year. 

The industry balked at that
proposal, saying the voluntary standards were too broad and would
limit marketing of almost all of the nation's favorite foods,
including some yogurts and many children's cereals.

Not surprisingly, the proposal issued by the government is
stricter than the standards the companies are pushing for
themselves. Still, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz praised the industry
guidelines. He said the government would consider the food
companies' initiative as the government develops its own standards.

"The industry's uniform standards are a significant advance,
and are exactly the type of initiative the commission had in mind
when we started pushing for self-regulation more than five years
ago ... we applaud industry for making healthy progress," he said.


While the government proposal put broad limits on fats, sugars
and sodium that would apply to marketing of all foods, the industry
has suggested different guidelines for different foods, saying that
is a more practical approach.

The industry guidelines for children's cereals, for example,
would allow them to be advertised if they have around 10 grams of
sugar a serving, while the formula used by the government would
discourage advertising for cereals that have 8 grams of sugars in
an equivalent serving. 

That would mean General Mills would still be
able to advertise Honey Nut Cheerios cereal under the industry
guidelines but would be discouraged under the voluntary government
guidelines. Other sugary cereals such as Trix, Lucky Charms and
Count Chocula would also make the cut under the industry numbers.

Another difference between the proposals is where companies are
allowed to advertise. While the government guidelines are broad,
discouraging advertising of unhealthy foods on packaging and in
stores, along with in the media, the industry guidelines would
apply to media -- television, radio, print, video games and the
Internet -- but not packaging. 

That means the little bee on the
front of the Honey Nut Cheerios box and the rabbit on the Trix box
would stay under the industry proposal and go under the government
draft.


Even if the industry standards are not as strict as the
government guidelines, they still represent progress on the part of
the companies. Many companies now advertise any children's cereals
that have less than 12 grams of sugar, down from 15 or 16 grams of
sugars a decade ago.

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the advocacy group
Center for Science in the Public Interest, praised the industry for
pushing for uniform standards for all of the companies, though she
said they do not go far enough. 

She said she hopes the industry
standards are a jumping-off point for negotiations with health
advocates and the government.


"The government agencies have developed standards that are best
for kids, and the companies have developed standards that are best
for industry. Now we need to work out a reasonable compromise,"
she said.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Democrat who wrote the language
directing the government to develop the standards, said he believes
the industry proposal falls short.

"With childhood obesity rates rising, now is the time for all
parties to rally around those guidelines and begin implementing
them, rather than coming up with competing proposals," he said.

That may be a while off. House Republicans have included a
provision in next year's Federal Trade Commission budget that would
delay the government standards by asking the government to study
the potential cost and impact of the guidelines before implementing
them.

If they are not delayed by Congress, a final draft of the
standards could come by the end of the year.

Gallery

Business and Economic News

The nation's largest food companies say they
will cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children, proposing
their own set of advertising standards after rejecting similar
guidelines proposed by the federal government.

Companies propose curbing junk food ads for kids

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