Multinationals lose appetite for junk food ads in India

NEW DELHI: A group of food & beverages (F&B) companies, including Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Kellogg’s, have come together to stop marketing junk food to children below 12 years to help check the rising menace of obesity.
They will introduce an Indian version of the EU Pledge, a pact signed by their parent organisations in 2007.
Under the EU Pledge, 11 companies, which account for more than half of the F&B advertisement spend in Europe, had decided to stop running ads targeting children on television, print and the internet, and selling junk food such as chocolate, chips and cola in primary schools.
“In India, HUL, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Kellogg’s met recently to reinforce their commitment to the cause,” an HUL spokesman said. The Indian pledge will take a concrete shape later this year. The objective of the forum is to adopt self-regulatory measures and reinforce codes of conduct to children on a common ground.
Other signatories of the EU Pledge, such as Nestle, are expected to join the initiative soon. The rest — Groupe Danone, Burger King, Mars, Ferrero, General Mills and Kraft — which either have a small presence in India, or are not present here, may come on board as their operations gain size in the country, company officials said.