By Better Business Bureau
A recently release progress report shows that the companies participating in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) continued to demonstrate excellent compliance in 2009 with their pledges to advertise healthier foods to kids under 12.
The CFBAI progress report was issued by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which is responsible for program administration and oversight 
of pledge compliance.
The report shows that through reformulation and innovation, the leading food and beverage manufacturers participating in the CFBAI continue to achieve steady progress in promoting products to kids that are better for them.
“The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative was intended to be a dynamic program that would encourage participants to raise the bar when marketing foods to kids,” said Elaine Kolish, vice president of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and Director of the CFBAI. “Our unique self-regulation effort continues to show steady progress with many significant enhancements and tightening of program requirements.”
As highlighted in the report, the following has been achieved:
Increased Participation. Post Foods joined in 2009 and Sara Lee joined as the 17th participant earlier this year.
Excellent Pledge Compliance. Pledge compliance in 2009 was excellent. There were only a handful of instances where non-CFBAI approved products appeared in advertising to children. These minor problems were detected and resolved quickly.
Expanded Program Scope. An extensive review that CFBAI conducted in 2009 resulted in several significant program changes. CFBAI now requires that participants devote 100 percent of children’s advertising to “better for you” products, up from the original 50 percent requirement. The participants’ commitments now also cover child-directed ads in new and emerging media, such as child-directed interactive games in all formats, mobile media, DVDs of G-rated movies and DVD content primarily directed to kids and word of mouth advertising.
Substantial Harmonization of Definition of Advertising primarily Directed to Children under 12. As a result of changes earlier this fall, virtually all participants will be using a threshold no higher than 35 percent children 2-11 in the audience to define child-directed advertising.
Additionally, the report notes the ongoing improvement in the nutritional profile of foods that CFBAI participants advertise to kids. CFBAI’s review of TV advertising directed to kids on 38 hours of children’s programming in 2010 found:
- 75 percent of the ads were for products that provided at least 10 percent of the Daily Value of one nutrient that is a shortfall in kids’ diets or a half-serving of a food group to encourage;
- 32 percent of the ads included at least a half-serving of vegetables or fruit such as apples or applesauce;
- 33 percent included milk or yogurt; and
- 27 percent were for products or meals that provided at least 8 grams of whole grains/50 percent whole grains.
The report also notes that 52 percent of the cereals that participants advertise to kids contain no more than 10 grams of sugar. All of these cereals contain less than 130 calories and provide many essential vitamins and minerals; many contain a half-serving of whole grains and are a good source of Vitamin D.
A pdf copy of the progress report is available on CFBAI website.