According to Adweek, food advertisers are living up to their promise to reduce the fat, salt, and sugar in products marketed to children. From ore-roll video ads on YouTube, to in-app display ads on prominent websites, the world’s top consumer brands are making a better effort to market healthier foods to children.
Near the end of last year, companies like Campbell Soup, Dannon, General Mills, Kellogg, and Pepsi adopted category specific uniform nutrition criteria enabling value comparison across products and brands.
Companies have promised not to advertise products that were not able to meet the new criteria until they are modified to do so. Some companies removed products from their lineup altogether.
As part of the initiative, General Mills reduced sugar in its Yoplait Go-Gurt yogurts by 10 percent and cut calories by 14 percent. ConAgra shuffled around its lineup introducing six new Chef Boyardee canned pastas and removed others in order to fulfill the requirement. Kellogg’s trimmed sugar in its Frosted Flakes by 9 percent.
Coca-Cola, Ferrero USA, Hershey, Hillshire Brands, and Mars vowed to not advertise to children under the age of 12.
The food industry has been recognized for the progress it’s made in trimming the fat. Sixteen of the nation’s largest food companies were praised for removing 6.4 trillion calories from food and beverages in 2012, when compared to five years prior.
