Children ‘being manipulated by food firm tactics’

Websites and social networking sites set up by major food companies are “bombarding” children and young people with promotions for food and drink which are high in fat, sugar and salt, according to the British Heart Foundation and the Children’s Food Campaign.

While adverts for junk food are banned from being shown during children’s TV, the charities claim there is no protection when youngsters are online giving marketeers “carte blanche to reach eight in 10 children behind their parents’ backs”.

The report found websites from major brands like Kellogg’s, Rowntree and Cadbury, filled with cartoon characters, games, competitions or apps that appeal to children. It said companies employ techniques which many children find difficult to identify as advertising.

Few require youngsters to submit their age when entering the website, while companies can also repeatedly contact children directly via email.

Websites criticised in the report include Kellogg’s Krave cereal, Cheestrings, Nesquik, Sugar Puffs, Capri-Sun, Rowntree, Chupa Chups and Cadbury Buttons.

Fans of Cheestrings, which the report said contain more salt than a packet of ready salted crisps, are encouraged to read about “101 things to do before you’re 11.5”.

The Kellogg's Krave website features the Krave Krusader, who is described as “fantastically fast-paced fun”. Researchers found there was no age verification required to enter the website, but to sign up for the newsletter users must state they are at least 16. To visit their Facebook page, users are told they must be 17 but the researchers said this could easily be bypassed.

The charities are calling for new rules that end the loophole allowing products outlawed from children’s TV to be marketed online.

Charlie Powell, campaigns director for the CFC, said: “By its failure to protect children from online junk food marketing, the Government is demonstrating complacency at a time when it should provide robust regulation to help reverse unacceptable levels of obesity in the UK.”

Terry Jones, from the Food and Drink Federation said authors had been “highly selective” over the information they presented to make “yet another of their seasonal attacks on the food industry”, ignoring “the many other positive aspects that demonstrate the industry’s responsible approach.”

He said there was no attempt to mislead consumers, adding: “Advertising in the UK is well governed and rules have recently been revised to include online material."

A spokesperson for Cheestrings, which is made by Kerry Foods, said they acted within the regulations. The product’s salt content had been reduced by up to 25 per cent and already exceeded the FSA’s 2012 salt reduction targets.

Paul Wheeler, from Kellogg’s, said it was “absolute rubbish” to say digital marketing was aimed at children as only those 16 and over could sign up to the newsletter and youngsters had to be 17 to follow Krave on Facebook.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport said online protections were extended further last year, adding: “Regulations now cover promotional activity by companies on their own websites, on social networking sites and the use of adver-games and user-generated content.”