IWG Hints at “Significant Changes” to Food Ad Guidelines in Letter to Chairman Upton

The Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission have sent a letter to Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee addressing his recent letter in regard to the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children.   Their letter states that the IWG is taking into account all of the 29,000 comments it received on the issue and plans on making “significant changes” to the draft principles it released in April in regard to both the marketing guidelines and the nutrition standards.   It also highlights efforts the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) has taken to implement uniform nutrition criteria for advertised food and beverage products by the end of 2013.  The IWG states that it will take this “significant development” into account when making their report.

We are encouraged that the heads of the IWG admit the need for changes to the guidelines, which would severely restrict advertising to children, but we caution that there are no details here and it would be premature to assume any final outcomes.  Therefore, we are continuing our very active lobbying efforts. 

If you have any questions, you can reach me at 202-296-2359 or at djaffe@ana.net.