Consumer advocacy NGO Foodwatch has called on supermarkets to work harder to protect children from marketing that sells them products that are too fatty, too sweet or too salty, by banning “immediately playful advertising and marketing” for such products.
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She sent a letter to various retail chains evoking the misdeeds of these products. Some supermarkets have replied that they have already taken restrictive measures, others are committed to them.
One in 6 overweight or obese children
Between attractive packaging and dedicated advertising, food distribution has a “key role” to play in the face of the rise in overweight and obesity among children, says the NGO, which published this Wednesday, February 22, a barometer relating to the marketing of these “unhealthy products” targeting children. “Supermarkets play a major role in the content of our plates”says Foodwatch.
One in six children in France is overweight or obese and a majority of them will remain so in adulthood, recalls the NGO.
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Distributors have made commitments “serious and up to the challenge”promising to ban advertisements intended to entice children under 16, notes Foodwatch.
This is the case of Biocoop, which ensures that it does not produce “no advertising aimed at instrumentalizing children” as planned “communication agreement” applicable to all brand stores. Lidl announced in January to stop advertising food “unhealthy” targeting children and ban playful packaging for its own brands. Intermarché is committed to ensuring that all products to be “child identity” see their recipes “improved”according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Regulatory measures” demanded
According to Foodwatch, distributors Monoprix, Casino, Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc and Système U “entered timidly into the race”highlighting their efforts to improve their social responsibility but without responding directly “the urgency of protecting children” of this marketing. None of the actions they presented include all of the nutritional recommendations of the WHO, according to the NGO.
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Other distributors have not responded to requests from the NGO, such as Aldi, Cora and Leader Price, indicates Foodwatch.
The NGO also says it will continue to negotiate with supermarket chains deemed “hesitant” And “call for regulatory measures” to the government.
The WHO has been urging retailers for years to ban the marketing of junk food targeting those under 16, Foodwatch said.
