Proposed Amendments to the Food and Drug Regulation: Restricting Food Advertising Primarily Directly at Children
Health Canada, Office of Nutrition Policyand Promotion. 251 Sir Fredick Banting Driveway, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9, Canada.
Vendor and Product Properties, Marketing and Regulation, Desirability, Norms and Preferences, Labelling
National
Citizens/Consumers, Businesses, Public Sector
Future
To reduce children`s exposure to advertisements for foods that contribute to excess intake of sodium, free sugars, and saturated fat, thereby lowering the risk of obesity, chronic diseases, and unhealthy eating habits. Method: It amends the Food and Drug Regulations to prohibit advertising (in specified media) of foods primarily directly at children under age 13 when these foods exceed low-in threshold for sodium, free sugars, or saturated fat. The proposed restriction would focus on television and digital media. Using a nutrient profile model, food with added sodium, free sugars, or added fat that exceeds the low in claim threshold would be restricted for advertisement to children.
Health Canada`s Healthy Eating Strategy, launched in 2016, includes several initiatives such as sodium reduction, front-of-package labelling, and the elimination of industrial trans fats. Evidence shows that children`s diets in Canada are high in sodium, free sugars, and saturated fat, and that advertising strongly influences their food preferences, requests, and consumption patterns. In response, the government conducted consultations between 2016 and 2019 on broader advertising restrictions, which led to the development of a more targeted proposal focusing on foods exceeding specific nutrient thresholds. The proposal was developed through collaboration with public health organisations, nutrition experts, industry stakeholders, provincial governments, and through national public consultations, including those held in the summer of 2023.
The policy is led by Health Canada through the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion, which is responsible for regulatory development, oversight, and evaluation. Monitoring will involve surveillance of advertising content across television and digital media, compliance reviews, handling of public complaints, and periodic evaluation of advertising exposure and its health impacts. The nutrients profiling model is applied to determine whether foods advertised to children exceed the established threshold for sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
Because the policy has not yet been implemented, large-scale outcomes are not yet available. However, modelling and preliminary assessments indicate that many food and beverage products currently advertised to children such as sugary drinks, snacks, desserts, and breakfast cereals would exceed the proposed nutrient limits. Expected benefits include reduced exposure of children to unhealthy food advertising, shifts industry marketing practices, and potential decreases in children`s intake of sodium and free sugars. Challenges such as defining what constitutes advertising ´´primarily directly at children,`` managing industry resistance, enforcing rules across international digital platforms, and addressing brand advertising that avoids direct product promotion.