In July, 11 major food, beverage and restaurant companies pledged to the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) that they would eliminate the use of licensed characters to market unhealthy food and beverage products and limit marketing to children 12 and younger to foods that meet specific nutritional guidelines, or eliminate marketing to children altogether. While Chuck E. Cheese agreed to join the CBBB Initiative in part, Dannon, Nestlé, and Yum! Brands declined. ConAgra, which also received a letter from Rep. Markey, announced that it would join the CBBB Initiative in an October 4th letter to Rep. Markey.

“I applaud Chuck E. Cheese and ConAgra for taking a step in the right direction. Though Dannon, Yum! Brands, and Nestlé have been slow to act, I hope they have a ‘Quik’ change of heart for the sake of America’s children. At a time when our country is facing a serious childhood obesity crisis, the responses from these companies raises the question of whether voluntary industry action will be sufficient to combat this important public health issue,” said Rep. Markey.

“Two years ago the Institute of Medicine linked the current unhealthy trend toward poor nutrition and childhood obesity to the prevalence of television advertisements for fast food, junk food, sugared cereals, and other foods wholly lacking in nutritional value. These top food and beverage companies have an opportunity to play an important role in helping our children make healthier choices. The fact that Dannon, Nestlé, and Yum! Brands are unwilling to restrict marketing to kids is disappointing, given that 13 of their competitors have found that it is possible to act in a socially responsible manner without harming their bottom line.”

On September 12th, Rep. Markey sent letters to Chuck E. Cheese, Dannon, Nestlé, Yum! Brands, and ConAgra calling on the companies to place restrictions on their marketing campaigns. Chairman Markey has been a leading advocate for urging media and food and beverage companies to place limits on marketing directed at young children. The five companies that received letters are some of the world’s largest food and beverage marketers and account for much of food and beverage advertising expenditures in the United States.

In declining to join the CBBB Initiative, Dannon, Nestlé, and Yum! Brands did not describe any new self-restrictions they were prepared to undertake. Only Chuck E. Cheese proposed new marketing restrictions that may have a significant impact while ConAgra told Rep. Markey that it would unveil new marketing restrictions in early 2008.

Rep. Markey's original letters to the food companies are available HERE .

Response letters from:
Chuck E. Cheese
Dannon
Nestlé
Yum! Brands
ConAgra