http://www.health.gov.au

The Parents’ Jury recently commissioned a study of school canteen menus around Australia.

Fifty six percent of menus had confectionery and only 76% included fruit. On average a pie cost 66 cents less than a salad. High school menus fared the worst with 38% of high schools including soft drinks on the menu even though sugar sweetened drinks are classified as RED foods.

Despite states having guidelines for many years that recommend GREEN foods dominate the menu the survey found school canteens that are still serving RED foods or have a high proportion of AMBER foods.

Read more about the campaign results here.

Visit the Parents’ Jury to find out how to campaign for better food in your school.

The day before the regulation to limit the size of sugary drinks in New York was to come into effect a judge has ruled it invalid.

The planned regulation, aimed to reduce consumption of sugary drinks, limited the size of drinks sold in restaurants and theatres to no more than 475ml. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has introduced several initiatives previously to improve the health of New York residents. These include a ban on trans fats and a requirement for fast food restaurants to show energy (calories) on menu items.

The Mayor described the development as a “temporary setback” and encouraged restaurants to voluntarily adopt the 475 ml limit.

Would this be a good idea in Australia or are our drink sizes reasonable?

With almost a third of Australian’s household food bill spent on meals outside of the home including fast food choices, Cancer Council NSW scrutinised fast food in three studies and released the findings in a report today.

Study 1: Availability and accessibility of nutrition information in-store and online

This study looked at five different fast food chains around Australia. Of the 222 stores surveyed, 34% had no nutrition information available in-store to assist customers in choosing healthier options.

Study 2: How healthy are fast food children’s meals?

This study looked at the nutrition composition of 199 different children’s meal combinations from six of Australia’s major fast food chains. Some meals exceeded the sodium and saturated fat recommendations for 4-8 year olds for an entire day.

If the meals are considered a third of daily requirements, then 90% of children’s meals exceeded the sodium recommendations for 4-8 year olds and over 70% of the meals exceeded the energy requirements for 4 year olds and 55% exceeded the energy requirements for 8 year olds.

Study 3: How popular are healthy fast food meals?

This study looked at sales of healthy and unhealthy meals at twenty McDonald’s stores in Sydney. It found that less than 1% of in-store meal purchases were the healthier option.

Cancer Council NSW calls on the Federal Government and the fast food industry to step up and make changes so it is easier for customers to make healthier fast food choices.

Recommendations for change
1. The Federal Government should introduce mandatory menu labelling in-store in fast food chains, nationwide.

2. In the absence of nationwide mandatory menu labelling, the fast food industry should ensure that complete nutrition information is always available in-store.

3. Fast food chains should ensure that staff receive training on the provision of nutrition information to customers.

4 . The fast food industry should reformulate their menu items to reduce the amount of energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium.

5. The Food and Health Dialogue should set targets for voluntary reformulation of fast food, and move towards mandatory reductions.

6. The fast food industry should promote healthier menu items in preference to their unhealthy menu items.

A recent study from Western Australia has found that three quarters of primary school aged children were able to correctly match a brand to the sport it sponsors. In particular, over half the children could correctly match a Western Australian football team to Hungry Jack’s. Even if children did not correctly identify the actual sponsor they often associated the sport with a sponsor from the same product category eg fast food. The authors say that pairing unhealthy foods with sport could lead to a perception that consuming junk food after participating in sport is part of a balanced approach to life.

As well, if a national team was sponsored by a fast food company as is the case with cricket and KFC this brand association flowed on to an incorrect assumption about the Western Australian teams.

A Tasmanian dad is petitioning Cricket Australia to stop advertising alcohol and fast food at events. You can sign the petition here.

Lodging a complaint with the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) is one way the community can communicate their expectations of standards in advertising. So let’s look at how the ASB responded to some of the food marketing to children complaints in 2012.

Complaints upheld in 2012

The only complaint upheld in 2012 which concerned food marketing to children was a complaint about the McDonald’s Happy Meal website breach of the Quick Service Restaurant Industry Initiative (QSRI).

The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) ruled that the website promoted Happy Meals and “the promotion of a ‘happy meal’ in general terms is the promotion of ALL happy meals” and because not all Happy Meals meet the nutrition criteria then the website breached the QSRI because it was deemed to be promoting unhealthy Happy Meals. As well, the site breached the provision that states that licensed characters can only be used in association with healthier choices and the provision that covers interactive games.

McDonald’s defended the site saying “the Website is not correctly characterised as ‘advertising and marketing communications’ but is in fact a product itself. The Website is not for the promotion of food or beverages, but is an extension of the Happy Meal product and brand…. The use of licensed characters on the Website is not used to promote non-complying food and beverage products.”

The only other food and beverage complaint upheld did not involve advertising to children but was a breach by Subway of the misleading or deceptive clause in the Food and Beverage Code. The ASB found a breach as the chicken fillet sub contained processed chicken meat rather than a fillet of chicken and “most members of the community would associate chicken fillets with the breast or thigh portion of the chicken in one whole piece or as a cut of chicken”.

Recently the Australian Communications and Media Authority gave McDonald’s Australia a formal warning under the Spam Act for the ‘send to friends’ facility on the Happy Meal website. The investigation found that emails were sent to friends of users without their consent and there was no unsubscribe option on the emails.

Top 10 loopholes in self-regulations

The current self-regulatory initiatives and codes are not effective in preventing exposure of children to advertising of unhealthy foods. Here are the top 10 loopholes from 2012 complaints.

1. The program in which a fast food ad is shown is not relevant*.

The program in which an ad is shown is not relevant in determining whether it is directed to children so fast food ads can run in children’s movies if the ad is not directed primarily to children.

a. Oporto advertised in Shark Tale (41% of the audience was under 18).
b. Oporto, Hungry Jack’s and Pizza Hut advertised in The Lion King (Sydney audience 44,000 5-12 year olds).
c. Oporto and Pizza Hut advertised in Bee Movie (Sydney audience 29,000 5-12 year olds ).
d. Oporto and Red Roosteradvertised in Alice in Wonderland (Sydney audience 32,000 5-12 year olds, 28% audience under 18).

2. The ad is for a product which is not targeted towards and has principal appeal to children.

a. A complaint about a banner ad for Red Bull in the ‘magic pony’ activity on the Bratz games website www.bestbratzgames.com was not even considered because “Red Bull is not a product which is targeted towards and has principal appeal to children”.
b. A complaint about the Chupa Chups microsite http://www.lifelessserious.com.au/ was dismissed because according to the Board “Chupa Chups are not a product of principal appeal to children” and the manufacturer defended themselves by saying “The product is enjoyed by many adult consumers including famous celebrities such as Madonna, David Beckham, Kirsty Alley and the 1970’s TV character Kojak.”
c. In dismissing the Donut King website complaint the Board said “although the ‘Kids Corner’ of the website is targeted to children, donuts themselves are not targeted to and of principal appeal to children.” Donut King said; “The ‘cinnamon donut’ is not a product targeted toward and having principal appeal to children”, and went on to suggest other donut products that are targeted to children; dinosaur donut, boys & girls donuts, the sweet talker, twinkle or crocodile donuts.
d. A complaint about Haribo lollies was rejected because: “although very appealing to children, the product ‘Haribo lollies’ generally is not a good targeted toward and of principal appeal to children”.

3. The ad is not directed primarily to children

a. The ASB ruled that the Green’s popcorn ad which includes children popping up and down on a couch “is aimed at the whole family with specific appeal to the main grocery buyer”.
b. A Nandos TV ad featuring a child playing with dinosaurs amongst fried chicken, chips and salad was dismissed. The ASB considered it “would be attractive to children but that the images of the product and the overall theme were directed at adults”.
c. The Oreos ad featuring two children eating Oreo biscuits was deemed to be “adult in theme and not primarily directed to children but rather to the main grocery buyer”, despite the Board acknowledging that “a brother and sister having a snack after school was an activity that many children would relate to”.
d. A complaint about McCormick Foods’ Aeroplane Jelly website was dismissed because “young children would enjoy some of the components of the site but would likely be assisted in reaching the site”.
e. In dismissing the Kellogg LCMs complaint the ASB felt that “the advertisement would be attractive to children because of the focus on the children and the school setting but overall considered that it could not be said that the advertisement is ‘primarily directed to children under 12’”.

4. Advertisers own websites are not covered under the food industry code*

a. A complaint was lodged about the Yogo Alley website but dismissed because it was the advertiser’s own website. While the nature of this complaint was similar to the successful Happy Meal website complaint, this complaint was dismissed because the relevant food industry code did not cover advertisers’ own websites, while the fast food code did.
Interestingly, this website was nominated in the 2012 Parents’ Jury Fame and Shame Awards but during the months of October and November when the awards were held it was not accessible which suggested it had been taken down. In 2013, the Yogo Alley website has since miraculously reappeared.
b. The Kraft Natural Confectionery Company website complaint was dismissed as it is a microsite for the company therefore not a third party site.

5. Featuring an unhealthy product alongside healthy foods promotes a ‘balanced diet’.

a. A Mamee Noodle ad was shown up to eight times on Saturday morning and four times on Sunday morning kid’s TV but the ASB finding was that “the boy has a lunch box next to him that includes an apple in it.”
b. A complaint about Arnott’s Bi Tedz biscuits was dismissed by the ASB with comments noting “the product being placed into a lunch box with a multigrain salad sandwich, an apple and carrot sticks”.
c. Even though Kellogg’s LCMs bars are unhealthy lunchbox snacks, a complaint about an LCMs advertisement that appealed to children was dismissed and the ASB comments included that it was not inconsistent with a healthy lifestyle. The ASB noted “that the contents of the boy’s lunchbox are consistent with a healthy lunch and that there is only one LCMs bar”.
d. Another complaint about Kellogg LCMs bar was dismissed because “the depiction of a lunch box containing a sandwich, apple, bunch of grapes and LCMs bar indicates that the primary audience is parents”.

6. The ad only shows a small amount of food being eaten or does not depict overconsumption.

a. In rejecting the complaint about the Mamee Noodle advertisement , the ASB argued that: “the boy is seen only eating minimal amounts of the product” and the advertiser pointed out the boy is “shown only having two bites in the whole ad”.
b. A complaint about the Lindt chocolate Easter bunny advertisement and website was rejected by the ASB because “an image of a large chocolate bunny does not of itself amount to a depiction which would encourage or condone excess consumption”.

This was a recurring reason for rejecting complaints:
c. Donut king website:”The reality of the game is that the animated mouth is in fact moving away from the donuts rather than towards them.”
d. Arnott’s Bi Tedz: ”only one biscuit being placed in the lunch box”
e. Green’s popcorn: “one bag of microwave popcorn is shown to be shared between four family members”.
f. Oreos: “would reasonably be considered as a biscuit for each child and then ideally one to share”.
g. Haribo lollies: “all scenes that included children sitting with lollies on the table in front of them included only 4-5 lollies at any one time and did not encourage or promote unhealthy eating habits”.
h. YoGo website: “was supportive of the idea that Yo-go would be best consumed as a snack rather than as the entire meal”.
i. In response to a complaint about the Chupa Chups game app promoting lollipops to children, distributor Stuart Alexander claimed “although the character collects numerous quantities of lollipops… he is never actually seen to eat them”.

7. The ad shows physical activity along with the food

a. Despite Arnott’s Big Tedz biscuits being high in saturated fat and sugar, a complaint about an advertisement for this product was dismissed with the ASB saying the “depiction of children dancing and the encouragement to join in amounted to messaging that encourages physical activity”.
b. In defending their LCMs ad Kellogg’s said “the ‘squabbling’ for the (small) piece of the LCMs bar is depicted as an energetic physical activity”.
c. Regarding their YoGo website, Lion claimed that “YoGorilla is wearing sportsgear”.

8. Only show the one product that meets the advertisers’ own nutrition criteria

a. In the response to the Arnott’s Bi Tedz complaint the ASB said the product “meets the nutritional standards that Campbell Arnott’s committed to”.
b. A complaint about an advertisement for McDonald’s Happy Meals was dismissed because “the Happy Meal featured in the advertisement meets the Nutrition Criteria”. Never mind the fact that most of the Happy Meals on offer don’t pass these criteria because they include soft drink, French fries and burgers or nuggets.

9. It was the station’s fault not the advertisers’, as it was screened in ‘bonus time’

a. In response to a complaint about Greens Popcorn being advertised during children’s programs ‘Lab Rats’, ‘DaVincibles’ and ‘Zeke’s Pad’, Green’s argued that “Channel 7 screened the commercial in bonus airtime that was not requested by the company”.

10. There are no consequences if an ad is changed after a complaint is lodged

In September we complained about a game on the Red Rooster website which advertised Red Rooster’s ‘apple bites’. A case number was raised but the ASB informed us that the advertiser had removed the game so the complaint was not registered.

* According to the Australian Food and Grocery Council Position Statement 1 November 2012 there will be some changes under the redraft of the self-regulations  to extend the codes “to include marketing and advertising communications appearing on all internet sites (including company owned and brand websites) and where the medium attracts an audience of greater than 35% of children”. Evidence shows that not many TV programs have an audience of over 35% under 12’s although there could still be many thousands of children watching the show.

Not only is kids cricket sponsored by drink confection, but kids were given lolly bags at Christmas @theparentsjury twitter.com/lewest/status/…

— Lucy W (@lewest) January 3, 2013

baffled that volunteers finish kids’ cricket sessions handing out lolly pops. What happened to frozen oranges? @bustjunkads @theparentsjury

— Lucy W (@lewest) January 3, 2013

The Australian Communications and Media Authority have given McDonald’s Australia a formal warning for having a ‘send to friends’ facility on the Happy Meal website.

The facility allowed emails to be sent to friends without the friends consent.

The Happy Meal website features dozens of games branded with the Happy Meal logo. McDonald’s removed the send to a friend facility in February.

The ACMA used this opportunity to warn others that consent must be received from the person receiving the email, the message must include accurate information about the person or organisation that sent it and the message must have an ‘unsubscribe’ facility.

We’d like to hear if your children receive marketing emails that they have not signed up to.

Pestering still happens at the supermarket according to a recent study. Over 73% of parents interviewed as they left the supermarket said they were pestered for food and 70% of those gave in and bought the request. Most of the foods requested were unhealthy foods such as confectionery and chocolate.

Parents felt their children were influenced by colours and characters on the packaging (23%), liking or being familiar with the product (20%), checkout displays (12%) and recalling the food from a television advertisement (10%).

When asked about changes they would like to see, parents mentioned confectionery free checkouts, minimization of child friendly product placement and reducing children’s exposure to food marketing.

A multi-facet approach is required to curb unhealthy foods marketed to and requested by children in supermarkets to help improve their diet but supermarkets have a role to play in helping parents.

Read more.

The television advertisement features a young girl in a lab coat narrating the ad. Seven young children are shown playing with, smelling and then eating Haribo Goldbears. The Board agreed that the advertisement would appeal primarily to children and the product is targeted toward and of principal appeal to children but that children would be able to recognise it was a fictitious scenario.

But the AANA code is about advertising neither encouraging nor promoting unhealthy eating habits. The Board determined that because the ad showed children taking only one lolly at a time it did not breach this clause and hence the code.

In a ruling on another complaint covering the Haribo facebook page, the Board said that the facebook page is a promotion of all Haribo lollies and, contrary to what they said about Goldbears all Haribo lollies are not targeted toward and of principal appeal to children.

Read the Case report 0406/12
and Case report 0405/12