MPP Gélinas junk food bill would remove tasty treats from cash checkout areas

Toronto Star 

Ontario Nickel Belt New Democrat MPP and official opposition health critic France Gélinas has introduced a bill at Queen’s Park to remove the tempting racks of junk food and other treats with high fat, high sugar and high sodium content that are often located near cash register checkouts. A news release from Gélinas’ office said the bill is called the Temptation Be Gone Act and allows the government to make regulations that restrict the sales and marketing of certain treats — including restrictions on what can be located right next to the cash register. Read more

‘Striking’ Increase in Childhood Obesity During Pandemic

WebMD 

Obesity rates among children jumped substantially in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online in Pediatrics. Experts worry the excess weight will be a continuing problem for these children. The study looked at a large pediatric primary care network and found the number of patients with obesity increased from 13.7% to 15.4%. Read more

Jamie Oliver calls on the government to stick by plan to ban online junk food ads

iNews .co.uk

The TV chef is urging the government to “put health first” and not be “weakened by vested interests”. Jamie Oliver and more than 90 health figures are urging the government to push ahead with proposals to ban all online adverts for foods high in sugar, fat, and salt. Campaigners want the government “to forge ahead with landmark proposals to end almost all unhealthy food and drink adverts online, which will protect children from the influence of junk food marketing”. It is understood the proposals to stop all online adverts for unhealthy food may not go ahead, according to reports in the press. Read more

Taxing sugar is good for all

Cosmos 

A study out of the University of Cambridge found that, a year after the introduction of a sugar tax in the UK, people were still purchasing the same amount of soft drink but consuming 10% less sugar. The results are described in a paper published in The BMJ. The UK introduced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) on soft-drink manufacturers in April 2018. Drinks with more than 8g sugar per 100mL are taxed at £0.24/L, and drinks with 5–8g sugar per 100mL are taxed at £0.18/L. The tax aimed to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar in their drinks. Read more

Are Junk Food Companies Using TikTok Influencers to Target Kids?

Civil Eats
“There is a significant body of research showing that children are more vulnerable to advertising when it is integrated into content. The fact that children who spend hours a day on YouTube and TikTok feel like they have relationships with influencers makes these junk food pitches even more powerful,” said Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. He also sees disclosures such as an #ad hashtag as meaningless to children. “The FTC should instead prohibit influencer marketing aimed at children as an unfair practice,” he said. Read more

Are high-sugar adverts contributing to obesity in Mediterranean countries?

FoodNavigator. Com 

The Spanish food industry is promoting unhealthy products for breakfast, according to Mireia Montaña Blasco from the Open University of Catalonia, who has undertaken research in response to rising obesity rates in Mediterranean countries. In total, the researcher analyzed 355 advertisements from 117 different products that appeared across Spanish media including the internet, television, radio, print and outdoor advertising.  Among the findings was that a vast majority of those targeted at children had an average sugar content of 36.2% compared to 10.25% for those targeted at adults. In Spain one in three children are overweight and the country has the highest proportion of childhood obesity in Europe. Read more

Covid 19 coronavirus: Junk food companies accused of ‘Covid-washing’ during lockdown

NZ Herald 
20 of the biggest junk and fast food brands in New Zealand have been accused of “Covid-washing” by pushing their products on the back of the nation’s lockdown according to a study from the University of Auckland. The study analyzed nearly 1400 social media posts and found about 27 per cent of the posts related to Covid-19 themes, of which more than a third linked a brand with community spirit. The study’s lead author, Dr Sarah Gerritsen, said Covid-washing portrayed a company as empathetic and contributing in a meaningful way to the pandemic response.”When, in reality, it was just another strategy to promote products and choices that are detrimental to health.” Read more

Raiding your cupboards like a vending machine? Big Food is feeding our snack addiction

USA Today  
Big Food is using our deepest human instincts against us to make their products more addictive than ever, and then maneuvering to exploit our efforts to regain control of our health. In the early days of COVID-19, manufacturers of cookies, crackers and chips saw sales jump nearly 30% as people loaded up on items they hadn’t had since childhood. And now, the companies aren’t about to let us go. Read the article

Groundswell of opposition to children’s junk food ads as code nears review

Stuff.co.nz 
Pressure is growing on the New Zealand Government to regulate marketing of unhealthy food and drinks that target children. A loose collection of researchers and health groups has formed to lobby the Government for firmer controls, starting with the Children’s and Young People’s Advertising Code. Introduced in 2017, the code is up for review next year, but the groups want to see the complaint process taken out of advertising industry hands. New Zealand had the second highest rate of childhood overweight in the OECD, with 39 per cent of children aged five to 19 either overweight or obese. Read more

Fresh calls for regulation of junk food marketing in Germany: ‘Voluntary commitments cannot work’

Food Navigator

Voluntary codes to limit the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children ‘cannot work’, according to the Federation of German Consumer Organisations. The association is calling for tougher action. The research found that existing voluntary commitments exclude important forms of marketing like packaging and digital exposure and offer numerous loopholes due to vague definitions. Read more