http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302402.html

Debate Pops Open Over Soda Warnings
Groups Argue Over Federal or Industry Limits on Food Ads Aimed at Kids

By Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 14, 2005; Page D01

The food fight is on -- again.

Yesterday, consumer activists and food manufacturers traded rhetorical
barbs in the ongoing debate over whether government regulation or
stricter voluntary industry standards are needed to address concerns
about the marketing of food to children.

Nickelodeon said some of its popular characters will appear on
vegetable packages. (Nickelodeon)

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A consumer group called on the government to require warning labels on
sugar-laden soft drinks, claiming they are the biggest source of
calories in the American diet.

Major food manufacturers countered that it is up to the industry to
tighten its voluntary advertising rules to address health concerns. The
Grocery Manufacturers Association said companies should not be allowed
to pay television producers to strategically place their products in
shows aimed at children.

Meanwhile, Nickelodeon, the nation's top children's television channel,
said some of its most popular characters -- SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora
the Explora and Blue from "Blue's Clues" -- will soon start appearing
on packages of carrots and spinach and on milk cartons with the goal of
enticing kids to eat healthful food.

The varying perspectives on how to address childhood obesity and
unhealthful eating habits came the day before a two-day workshop,
sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Federal Trade Commission, which will explore the effectiveness of the
television industry's self-regulation efforts.

The government-chartered Institute of Medicine called last year for
such a panel and urged the industry to develop strict advertising
guidelines, after noting that the incidence of obesity has more than
doubled in children since 1970.

The institute said food and beverage advertisers spend $10 billion to
$12 billion a year to reach children. Although advertising has not been
linked directly to obesity, it added, "it is evident that advertising
increases food-purchase requests by children to parents, has an impact
on children's product and brand preferences and affects their
consumption behavior."

FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras has made it clear that the workshop
will not lead to new government rules. She told a group of lawyers this
spring that "this is not the first step toward new government
regulations to ban or restrict children's food advertising and
marketing." However, she called on the food industry to "be a positive
force" in encouraging more healthful eating habits among children.

Some consumer activists say the government needs to step in. The Center
for Science in the Public Interest, which has aggressively sought
stricter food labels and standards, yesterday asked the Food and Drug
Administration to require health warnings on soft drinks. "Drinking too
much non-diet soda may contribute to weight gain," was one suggestion.
"Drink fewer non-diet soft drinks to help prevent tooth decay" was
another.

"We recognize that such messages won't immediately solve the obesity
problem -- but they would be a useful reminder to both adults and kids
to drink less," said the group's executive director, Michael F.
Jacobson. The average 13- to 18-year-old boy drinks two 12-ounce cans
of soda a day; the average teenage girl, 1 1/3 cans, Jacobson said.

The proposed warnings were attacked even before they were announced.
The Center for Consumer Freedom -- a nonprofit group funded by
restaurant chains -- ran full-page ads in some national newspapers
yesterday. "CSPI bases its policy suggestions on the premise that
people cannot make good food and beverage decisions without government
intervention in the form of bans, taxes, lawsuits and restrictions,"
the ad said.

The American Beverage Association said current nutrition labels provide
consumers with the information they need. Besides, it noted, soft-drink
consumption has declined since 1998. According to Beverage Digest, a
trade publication, average per-capita consumption dropped from 576
12-ounce cans a year in 1998 to 558 cans in 2004. The main reason for
the drop, said editor John Sicher, is the "phenomenal growth of bottled
water."

"Requiring warning labels on food that is perfectly safe is a waste of
everyone's time," said Richard Martin, a spokesman for the grocery
manufacturers.

Nickelodeon said some of its popular characters will appear on
vegetable packages. (Nickelodeon)

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Instead, the association, whose members sell $530 billion of food and
drink products annually, called for stricter voluntary rules governing
ads aimed at children. In a preview of comments it plans to make at the
workshop, the group said it will ask advertisers to substantially boost
funding and staff for an industry group to review those ads.

Currently, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) regularly
reviews such ads, based on guidelines developed by the industry. It has
an annual budget of $650,000 and a staff of six -- too small, its
critics say, to adequately police the billions of dollars in kids
promotions.

Critics say the review unit has no enforcement tools and does not
monitor new trends, such as promoting products to kids through online
games.

The grocery association said CARU's guidelines should be clear that
they apply to online games, computer games and video games. Similarly,
the guidelines should be tightened to make sure licensed characters
such as Scooby-Doo or Mickey Mouse are used appropriately to promote
foods, although the group did not elaborate.

Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist who is also a founder of the
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said, "These proposals may
sound good, but they won't address the fundamental issue: By relying
only on voluntary self-regulation we have turned our children over to
an industry that generates profits by selling them junk food."

CARU director Elizabeth L. Lascoutx said her group is studying how to
regulate online games. She said the manufacturers' suggestions "are for
the most part things we already do, like prescreening ads. We've been
doing that for the last 15 years."

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TC