Junk Food Makers are targeting children on the internet

Junk Food Makers reach children on internet - Telegraph

Extract:

"Food manufacturers were criticised yesterday for targeting their advertising at children on the internet and social networking websites.

Several major food companies have begun using the sites to promote their products following a ban on junk food advertising on television.In April, Ofcom, which regulates broadcasters, outlawed all adverts to children under nine years old that promoted sugary, salty or fatty foods. At the end of the year the ban extends to 15-year-olds.

However, Ofcom has no remit to regulate the internet, and adverts on websites are self-regulated by the advertising industry. The ban on junk food advertising also does not cover the cinema.

Campaigners argue that fast food chains and sweet companies are adopting new tactics to get around the TV ban.

Skittles, which are made by the confectionery giant Mars, have a profile on the popular social networking site Bebo. The page has already been viewed more than 50,000 times and attracted more than 3,500 "friends".

Meanwhile McDonald's is also targeting children on the internet. It features a Kids Zone on its website, which lets children play games that feature the company's clown mascot, Ronald McDonald.

In cinemas, the sugary cereal Coco Pops has placed adverts before the new Harry Potter film. Kellogg's, which makes Coco Pops, admits the advert would not be allowed during a children's programme on television.

Campaigners argue that all these tactics break the spirit, if not the letter, of the new regulations. Richard Watts, who heads the Sustain campaign, which has fought against junk food advertising, said: "I don't think it is a legitimate tactic to shift their advertising in this way. If Ofcom thinks that under 16-year-olds should be protected, that is a principle that should be carried through to other media. The country has to decide - given the rates of childhood obesity - whether we make sure all marketing is regulated or whether we let the problem continue.""

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