FSA News Item, 17 November 2006
The Agency welcomes the opportunity to consider and comment on today's proposal from Ofcom, which announces proposed new restrictions on television advertising of food and drink products to children. The Agency will submit its response in due course.
As called for by the FSA Board in June, the extension of restrictions to include children up to the age of 15 is important, as older children are often making their own food choices and purchases. We note that Ofcom has extended the scheduling restrictions to under 16 year olds.
The Nutrient Profiling model was developed specifically for Ofcom by an independent scientific panel. The model differentiates between foods that can play a positive role in children's diets and those that are high in fat, salt and sugar. This creates opportunities for healthy eating messages to be actively promoted, as well as encouraging manufacturers to reformulate key products.
Background
The Nutrient Profiling model was developed specifically for Ofcom to look at restricting the broadcast advertising of food to children.
If it was to be considered that the model should be used more widely either for use for non-broadcast advertising and promotion or anything else, its suitability for that application would need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
When the Agency handed the Nutrient Profiling model over to Ofcom in October 2005 it committed to reviewing the impact of using the model on the nature and balance of TV advertising one year from the date of first use.