The Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (US) is issuing recommendations for how food and drinks are marketed to children ages 2-17 years. Companies could voluntarily follow the recommendations or choose to ignore them completely.
It hasn’t been until recent years that such targeted products have taken off and it’s even more recently that some people have offered an adverse reaction to such specific marketing towards this age group. Health advocates say it’s really up to the parents to make sure their kids get healthy snacks, but how can parents make educated decisions if the marketing of a product is telling them one thing, yet the true ingredients are representing another?
A Courthouse News Service report claims that PepsiCo’s Naked Juice is ‘intentionally using misleading language’ on its labels due to the fact that the labels give ‘the false impression that the beverage’s vitamin content is due to the nutritious fruits and juices rather than the added synthetic compounds’. So the message is, even if labels are suggesting they’re natural and full of nutritious goodness, the reality can be at the other end of the health spectrum. This is even more important to be aware of when children are involved.
Fabian Milon, co-founder of Buddy Fruits, recently launched a new range of smoothie that combines milk and fruit for the younger market. Milon told FoodBev.com: “It’s true that many companies follow the healthy food trend, but in our opinion there’s too much marketing and allegations about the health benefits in many products targeted to kids. Many products are loaded with corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives and colourings that are not healthy for kids.
“At Buddy Fruits, our name matches our ingredients. What you see on the label is what’s inside the package. Yes, Buddy Fruits targets kids, but we also target grown-ups. We have had terrific results in blind tests with kids, and they love this product.”
The new smoothies’ packaging looks great for the company’s target market, but what makes these smoothies different to others?
“We use 90% pure blended fruit and 10% skimmed milk,” said Milon. “There’s actually nothing comparable on the market today. It’s really a new and innovative product.”
If companies that target their products at children get into as much trouble as their adult counterparts have demonstrated lately (Vita Coco, Aspire), there may be trouble ahead. However, we mustn’t forget those companies who have a true passion for nutrition and are simply catering to an incredibly popular sector of the market.
Ella’s Kitchen founder Paul Lindley has some sound thoughts on the matter: “At Ella’s Kitchen, we believe that a healthy, balanced diet should provide all the nutrition that a child needs to grow up, and there are better ways of ensuring kids get functional benefits in a natural way.
“We believe that it’s better to obtain your omega-3 intake through foods such as oily fish or eggs rather than fortified into milk. In addition to the health benefits, the earlier a child becomes acquired [sic] to the taste of oily fish, the better diet he or she is likely to have in later years, which can lead to a better relationship with food.”
The problem seems to be more with kids drinking and eating products that are tailored to the adult market, which can present health risks, and not the companies who are specifically selling products for the young consumer.
I just hope products intended for infant consumption remain functional for the children drinking them, and not just functional for the pockets selling them.
Rebecca is editorial assistant of FoodBev.com. You can contact her here, or read her blog here.
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