Sydney Health Law

Tag: Food advertising

  • The people’s award for undermining taxpayer-funded health promotion messages goes to…

    (drum roll) The people’s award for undermining taxpayer-funded health promotion messages goes to… Mars Wrigley Confectionary, makes of Maltesers, a confectionary multinational who have just launched this Maltesers-inspired chocolate bar into Australia.   You’ll want to sit down for this, it urges in billboard advertising. Clearly something momentous.  A new chocolate bar.  With Maltesers.  Call…

  • Upcoming events: Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing – learning from the past, ideas for the future

    Along with Cancer Council NSW and the Charles Perkins Centre’s Food Governance Node, Sydney Health Law is hosting an event on regulation of unhealthy food marketing to children. Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing remains a hot topic, given increasing concern about children’s diet-related health. In Australia, food marketing to children is regulated largely through…

  • Excluding bottled water, only 1.3% of food and beverage advertising across the Sydney train network is consistent with a healthy diet

    New research from the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders at the University of Sydney, and Sydney Law School, has investigated the quality of nutrition of food and beverage advertising on every station of Sydney’s metropolitan train network. Judged by revenues, outdoor advertising of food, on billboards and other advertising spaces, is…

  • Promoting health goals in a self-regulating industry

    Earlier this year I published an article on self-regulation of food marketing to children in Australia. I focused on two voluntary codes developed by the Australian food industry to respond to concerns about children’s exposure to junk food advertising, and how it might affect their eating habits. My article pointed out the many loopholes in…

  • Self-regulation of junk food advertising to kids doesn’t work. Here’s why.

    Recently, Cancer Council NSW published a study finding that food industry self-regulation in Australia has not been effective in reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing. Australian children still see, on average, three advertisements for unhealthy foods and beverages during each hour of prime time television they watch. This figure remains unchanged despite the Australian…

  • WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity presents final report and recommendations

    The World Health Organisation’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity, appointed by WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan in 2014, has now formally presented its final report. The Commission was co-chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, the Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Dr Sania Nishtar, the founder and President of Heartfile, a…

  • ACCC fines Uncle Tobys for false and misleading statements

    A reminder last week about the important role that consumer protection laws play in public health, and in holding – in this case – a food manufacturers accountable. Cereal Partners Australia, which owns the Uncle Tobys brand, has paid a penalty of $32,400  imposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for allegedly making false…

  • The ACT sin bins junk food ads on buses

    The ACT attracted media attention this week for becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to regulate ride-sharing services like Uber. But the ACT’s also been active in an area that’s close to the heart of many public health advocates: regulation of junk food and alcohol advertising. Promotions for these products will be banned on ACTION buses, along…

  • Fanta ad falls flat before the Advertising Standards Board

    Coca-Cola has been forced to remove advertisements for Fanta after the Advertising Standards Board found that the promotions breached the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative, a voluntary code on responsible food marketing to children. The rulings came after the Obesity Policy Coalition laid three complaints about the ‘Fanta Tastes Like’ campaign, which included ads during prime…