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Associated Press/AP Online
WASHINGTON - Kellogg Co., the world's largest cereal maker, has agreed to change the way it markets to children.


The Battle Creek, Mich., company avoided a lawsuit threatened by parents and nutrition advocacy groups worried about increasing child obesity. Kellogg intends to formally announce its decision Thursday.

The company said it won't promote foods in TV, radio, print or Web site ads that reach audiences at least half of whom are under age 12 unless a single serving of the product meets these standards:

-No more than 200 calories.

-No trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat.

-No more than 230 milligrams of sodium, except for Eggo frozen waffles.

-No more than 12 grams of sugar, not counting sugar from fruit, dairy and vegetables.

Kellogg said it would reformulate products to meet these criteria or stop marketing them to children under 12 by the end of 2008.

"By committing to these nutrition standards and marketing reforms, Kellogg has vaulted over the rest of the food industry," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "This commitment means that parents will find it a little easier to steer their children toward healthy food choices - especially if other food manufacturers and broadcasters follow Kellogg's lead."

Jacobson's nutrition advocacy group, along with two Massachusetts parents and the Boston-based Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, had served notice in January 2006 of intent to sue Kellogg and the Nickelodeon cable TV network under a Massachusetts law to stop them from marketing junk food to kids.

Center spokesman Jeff Cronin said Kellogg contacted the plaintiffs shortly thereafter and began negotiating the new standards, so the lawsuit was not filed and will not be filed.

"We are pleased to work collaboratively with industry and advocacy groups to unveil these standards," said David Mackay, Kellogg's CEO. "We feel the Kellogg Nutrient Criteria set a new standard for responsibility in the industry."

With 2006 sales of almost $11 billion, Kellogg is not only the No. 1 cereal-maker but also a leading producer of snack foods. Its brands include Kellogg's, Keebler, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Rice Krispies and Famous Amos.

Globally, 50 percent of the products Kellogg markets to children do not meet the criteria, said Mark Baynes, Kellogg's chief marketing officer. A third of the cereals it markets to children in the U.S. fall outside standards.

Pop-Tarts and Froot Loops don't meet the criteria, though most cereals fall inside the calorie guideline, Baynes said. Meeting the sugar and sodium standards could be the most challenging.

Kellogg also announced that it will continue to refrain from advertising to children under age 6, and will not in the future:

-Advertise to children any foods in schools and preschools that include kids under age 12.

-Sponsor placement of any of its products in any medium primarily directed at kids under age 12.

-Use branded toys connected to any foods that do not meet the nutrition standards.

-Use licensed characters on mass-media ads directed primarily to kids under 12 or on the front labels of food packages unless they meet the standards.

The advertising agreement does not apply to marketing characters Kellogg owns, like Tony the Tiger, but it does apply to characters the food company licenses, like the cartoon figure Shrek, said Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood.

She said Kellogg was the first food company to agree to restrict advertising using licensed media characters like Shrek.

"These characters play an incredibly important role in children's lives. Kids see them every day; they have toys of them," Linn said. "The media characters are much more powerful (than company-owned characters like Tony the Tiger). The food companies want to keep using them because they sell a lot of food; kids really respond to them."

Earlier this month, a Federal Trade Commission study found that half the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children's programs, double the percentage 30 years ago. Children between ages 2 and 11 saw approximately 5,500 food ads on television in 2004, half of them on kids' shows with audiences of 50 percent children or greater.

American companies spend about $15 billion a year marketing and advertising to children under age 12, the Institute of Medicine said last year when it warned that one-third of American children are obese or at risk for becoming obese.

In response, Kellogg and McDonald's Corp. joined eight other major food and drink companies last November in an industry-sponsored pledge to promote more healthy foods and exercise in their child-oriented advertising. A year earlier, Kraft Foods Inc. had promised to curb ads to young children for snack foods, including Oreos and Kool-Aid.

<whew> I just got in a flame war on another board where I posted this-with someone who thought CSPI AND RWJF do great things for the common good of society ('forcing them to make the sensible choices'-exact words). Turned out, he admitted he was in 'the medical field'.

There must be two FTC's!!!

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
New Studies: Commercials Aren't Making Kids Fat

WASHINGTON - The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) welcomed a new study to be published today in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, which will contribute to the steadily mounting evidence that undermines the supposed link between television food advertising and childhood obesity. Last Friday, a report issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday found similar results.

The Archives study found that "children do not currently see more food ads on TV than they did during the past 35 years." Looking at a 27 year span, the FTC found that "children are not exposed to more food ads on television than they were in the past." Childhood obesity scaremongers have claimed time and again that increased television marketing to children has caused them to eat more unhealthy food. From Superman to Shrek, food marketing has existed for decades. CCF points out that the new reports indicate that the number of advertisements seen by kids has actually dropped in the past few decades.

Furthermore, the study notes that "the dramatic increase in childhood obesity rates in the past several decades does not appear to be mirrored by similar changes in food advertising exposure."

This echoes FTC's conclusion that the average child aged 2 to 11 viewed about 10 percent fewer television advertisements in 2004 than in 1977. FTC researchers stated that their data "do not support the view that children are exposed to more television food advertising today."

Dave Clark posted that: 'Turned out, he admitted he was in 'the medical field'.

I guess that we are supposed to be impressed by this bozoo's qualifications and knowledge.

My youngest son was a 'pharmacy tech' at a local pharmacy while in high school. He had no prior training or knowledge of the stuff; yet, after a couple of months on the job, the State of Illinois issued him a license as a qualified pharm tech. He too was in the medical field.

Oddly enough; he could ring-up and hand-out all sorts of narcotic drugs,but he was not old enough to ring-up beer. Strange world we live in.

Can you say " BIG FOOD MSA on the way"?

I knew you could.

I feel they're going to do this one way or the other, regardless of what happens to the tobacco industry. It will happen.

The government is the addict, and it's addiction is OUR money.

And all the nanny-statist busy-body whiner's turn in the pit is coming as well.

Obese people, YOU are the next "demon", and YOU will be held in contempt more than ANY smoker ever was.

I feel it's far too late to do anything "within the system" to stop this, as there are now so many fools/sheeple/tools/morons/putz's supporting this destruction of private enterprise, and they also support and or believe all the vile censorship and threats, and lies they used to do so.

Junk science gurus and their god RWJF; The new inquisitors. They don't have to be right. Once you're a target, they'll put anything to print to see you are damned. Of course, they profit greatly from this.



Maybe khrushchev has won his war, right under our noses. And, true to his word, he never had to fire a shot.

I know one thing....things like this don't fly in a truly free constitutional republic.

quote:

Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood

Well, well, well....looky here...

http://www.rwjf.org/programareas/features/digest.jsp?id=5643&pid=1138

No one should be a bit surprised. It took me a whole 2.5 seconds to find this.

If it has anything to do with this kind of non-sense, you'll find RWJF at it's roots.

They are EVIL.

I think the time has come that we start investigating the investments of government agencies in the drug companies.

Governments of all sizes control vast stock portfolios for their benefit and their employees. Where is this money invested?

How is government benefiting from investments in the health field?

How many of these plans are fully funded? How many are relying on increased values of their portfolios to avoid actual funding of pensions?

What is the level of exposure to paying benefits compared to their value?

Apr 4, 2007
Foundation Makes Major Commitment to Combat Childhood Obesity
RWJF will commit at least $500 million to address the epidemic.


The Solution
On April 4, 2007, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced it will commit at least $500 million over the next five years—the largest investment by any foundation—to address childhood obesity. Reversing the epidemic by 2015 will require families, schools, government, industry, health care and philanthropy working together to change attitudes, social norms and policies.

The Foundation’s approach is direct, practical and strong:

RWJF will support innovative research and evaluation efforts to find out which changes to school and community environments are most effective in improving nutrition and increasing physical activity among kids.
RWJF will look for initiatives in communities and states across the country that have the most promise to influence wide-scale change and the potential to reach the most kids. We will work to integrate those programs nationwide, so that millions of children will benefit.
RWJF also is joining forces with other organizations committed to improving nutrition and increasing physical activity among children through proven and effective programs. We believe that reversing the childhood obesity epidemic requires a concerted effort from many diverse partners in order to create a new culture of health.
RWJF will make a major investment to foster collaboration among schools, community and industry leaders, policy-makers and families. We will educate, motivate and support our leaders and advocates in their efforts to help create healthier schools and communities nationwide.



buying schools, government is easy when you got that kind of money

Sooooo, parents have forgotten how to turn off a television now??? Here's another clue...buy a DVD...no commercials...oops, forgot the "ninny's" want to put "anti" ads on those too...

quote:

If it has anything to do with this kind of non-sense, you'll find RWJF at it's roots.

They are EVIL.

TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN.
However, a lot of people on the local board think this is GREAT, since "it promotes a 'healthy lifestyle-what's wrong with that?"
Another one: "Would you prefer they led an unhealthy lifestyle? Is that what you're promoting? I just don't get where you're coming from."

We are done for.

We are done for.

I hate to say it, but that could very well be the case. No one much has the guts it takes to be free anymore. They'd rather be led.

But,let's not go down without a hell of a fight.

Accumulated fat use to be a benefit as way to sustain life thru long illnesses, especially those that killed children.

Fat is stored energy.

It also used to be if a kid didn't get enough good protein from the food in their diets, they'd develop rickets. That included lots of fats since many folks cooked with lard. Strange new world we are living in now.