With childhood obesity on the rise across Europe, more countries are tightening their advertising rules for unhealthy foods and calling on the European Commission to step in and let go of a system that relies on industry self-regulation.
Chocolate, sugary drinks, and other highly processed foods are heavily marketed to children, and showing up on the scales across the continent.
From Scandinavia to the Balkans, governments disillusioned with a system where industry sets its own food advertising standards are introducing stricter rules to protect children, and calling on the European Commission to follow suit with binding legislation.
In April, Norway announced a ban on commercials targeting minors – including ads aimed at persuading adults – for products like chocolate, sweet spreads, energy drinks, and salty, fatty fast foods. The move followed a 2021 study showing one-fifth of the country’s primary school pupils were overweight or obese.
Soon, Norway will have Europe’s strictest advertising law to protect children – but it’s not alone in wanting to tackle the health issue.
Bulgaria is considering a ban on energy drink ads targeting minors, while Denmark recently announced it would tighten its Marketing Act to crack down on unhealthy food and beverage advertisements aimed at children.
According to Denmark’s health ministry, companies have repeatedly violated the food industry’s own code of conduct not to advertise unhealthy foods to children. “That is why we need to tighten the legislation,” said Business and Industry Minister Morten Bødskov – a move many hope the EU will follow.
Industry self-regulation
In the EU, advertising of unhealthy foods to children is largely governed by the “EU Pledge,” a voluntary scheme launched in 2007 by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). Under the Pledge, food companies commit to responsible marketing to children but set their own standards and monitor their own compliance.
“There is a massive chasm between what the research says we need to do on marketing and what the Commission has done so far,” said Emma Calvert, Deputy Head of Food from the European Consumer Organisation. “We know marketing of unhealthy foods impacts childhood obesity, we know children are inundated with such ads”
WFA Communication Director Will Gilroy defended the scheme, saying that once companies sign on, “it is no longer voluntary because it’s a corporate commitment.” He also said the Commission views the pledge as a “very credible from of self-regulation”.
But obesity rates tell a different story, especially outside Norway, where numbers are even higher. In the European region, nearly one in three children (29% of boys and 27% of girls) are overweight or obese.
A UK study published last month showed that just five minutes of exposure to brand-only food advertising has a measurable effect: after just five minutes of exposure, children consumed an additional 58 calories in snacks and 73 at lunch – nearly the equivalent of a 100-calorie cereal bar.
Calvert argues that reliance on industry pledges must end: “Letting the food industry decide what’s acceptable to advertise to kids is like leaving the fox in charge of the hen house.”
‘Not fit for purpose’
Major food companies behind the EU Pledge – including Mondelēz, Nestlé, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Danone, and Ferrero – have classified even cakes and biscuits as healthy enough to advertise to children. According to Calvert, this reveals how weak the scheme is in protecting young consumers.
She is urging the Commission to propose binding legislation by 2026.
Alessandro Gallina, senior policy manager for non-communicable diseases prevention at the European Public Health Alliance, echoed this call, saying the Commission has “a critical responsibility to implement binding legislation, going beyond superficial self-regulatory measures to adequately protect children”.
Asked by Euractiv, a Commission spokesperson referred to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which encourages limits on harmful advertising to children, but relies on “co-regulation” and “fostering self-regulation through codes of conduct.”
The Commission also said the findings from its EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity, expected later this year, “will contribute to inform the member states on possible future actions to address childhood obesity.”
However, a ban on food advertising to children is unlikely to be among the recommendations.
(bms, de)
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