Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative launched.

• In the mid-2000s, concerns were raised about the extent to which children’s food marketing focused on products high in salt, sugar, and fat.  In 2006, the food industry formed a voluntary self-regulatory program called the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) with the goal of promoting healthier dietary choices and healthy lifestyles in advertisements to children under 12.

• Just last week, the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Confectioners Association (NCA) announced the launch of a new self-regulatory initiative intended to limit the advertising of confectionery products to children under 12. The newly-launched Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI) is modeled on the CFBAI and its Core Principles. The CCAI is aimed at small- and mid-sized companies and has fewer administrative requirements than the CFBAI. “Charter participants” in the CCAI are Ferrara Candy Company; Ghirardelli Chocolate Company; Jelly Belly Candy Company; Just Born Quality Confections; The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc.; and R.M. Palmer Company.  They join six CFBAI participants (American Licorice Company; Ferrero USA; The Hershey Company; Mars, Incorporated; Mondelez International; and Nestlé) in the pledge to restrict advertising to kids under 12.

• The Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and consumer protection advocates such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have lauded the formation of the CCAI and express the hope that other candy companies will join in the initiative.