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IFBA and EU pledge report food progress
28/02/2013
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On 31 January the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA), representing ten leading international companies in the sector, released the results of the 2012 monitoring programme for its global commitment on food and beverage advertising to children. The IFBA commitment is equivalent to the EU Pledge commitment, i.e. not to advertise products to children under 12 unless these meet specific nutrition criteria, where applicable.
For the fourth year running, IFBA commissioned Accenture to monitor compliance with this commitment on TV, print and the Internet in a sample of markets worldwide. For 2012, Accenture found IFBA companies to be 98.9% compliant with regard to TV advertising (China (Shanghai region), Colombia, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand and 100% compliant for print and Internet advertising (Brazil, China (Shanghai region), Russia, Singapore and South Africa).
The positive results, similar to those reported in 2011 and previous years, were communicated in an IFBA letter to Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2013. The IFBA report is available here.
The EU Pledge programme, involving 19 leading companies representing over 80% of food and beverage ad spend in the EU, also released its 2012 monitoring report on 28 January. The EU Pledge report, available here, shows once more high levels of compliance by member companies, even though in 2012 the advertising commitment was tightened significantly, by lowering the audience threshold defining “advertising to children” from 50% to 35% children under twelve years.
The EU Pledge report also sets out the findings of the first evaluation of the new EU Pledge commitment regarding company-owned websites, carried out by the European Advertising Standards Alliance and its members (independent self-regulatory organisations for advertising) in seven EU markets.
Key EU Pledge 2012 monitoring results:
- Compliance with the commitment on TV advertising: 98.3%
- Compliance with the commitment on primary schools: 98%
- Compliance with the commitment on company owned websites: 95%
%uF0D8 Change in the exposure of children to food and beverage TV advertising since 2005:
The EU Pledge 2012 monitoring results will be presented formally to the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in May 2013.
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For the fourth year running, IFBA commissioned Accenture to monitor compliance with this commitment on TV, print and the Internet in a sample of markets worldwide. For 2012, Accenture found IFBA companies to be 98.9% compliant with regard to TV advertising (China (Shanghai region), Colombia, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand and 100% compliant for print and Internet advertising (Brazil, China (Shanghai region), Russia, Singapore and South Africa).
The positive results, similar to those reported in 2011 and previous years, were communicated in an IFBA letter to Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2013. The IFBA report is available here.
The EU Pledge programme, involving 19 leading companies representing over 80% of food and beverage ad spend in the EU, also released its 2012 monitoring report on 28 January. The EU Pledge report, available here, shows once more high levels of compliance by member companies, even though in 2012 the advertising commitment was tightened significantly, by lowering the audience threshold defining “advertising to children” from 50% to 35% children under twelve years.
The EU Pledge report also sets out the findings of the first evaluation of the new EU Pledge commitment regarding company-owned websites, carried out by the European Advertising Standards Alliance and its members (independent self-regulatory organisations for advertising) in seven EU markets.
Key EU Pledge 2012 monitoring results:
- Compliance with the commitment on TV advertising: 98.3%
- Compliance with the commitment on primary schools: 98%
- Compliance with the commitment on company owned websites: 95%
%uF0D8 Change in the exposure of children to food and beverage TV advertising since 2005:
- A very substantial reduction in children's exposure to advertising for products that do not fulfil better-for-you criteria through children's programmes (>35% <12 audiences): -73% in children's programmes (>35% children under 12 in the audience). Over all markets monitored in the past 4 years the average is -83.5%
- A significant reduction in children's exposure to advertising for products that do not fulfil companies' better-for-you criteria in all programmes: -48% this year. Over all markets monitored in the past 4 years the average is -48.5%.
- An overall reduction in children's exposure to advertising for all EU Pledge member companies' products (regardless of nutritional criteria): -29% this year. Over all markets monitored in the past 4 years the average is also -29%.
The EU Pledge 2012 monitoring results will be presented formally to the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in May 2013.
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