Food companies are using bright colours and cartoon characters in an “unethical” effort to manipulate children into wanting the sweets and crisps they make, a report has claimed.
Bite Back, a campaign group that is part of the chef Jamie Oliver’s empire, asked nutrition experts to analyse 262 sweet food products sold in the UK with packaging likely to appeal to children made by the 10 biggest food companies.
Oliver has accused food manufacturers of deliberately using packaging that is designed to “capture young minds” in order to sell more junk food.
The research, by Action on Salt, a group of food experts based at Queen Mary University of London, found that:
78% of products were deemed unhealthy because of their fat, salt or sugar content.
67% of those featuring a character were unhealthy.
80% of products used bright colours as well as fun patterns and lettering to attract children’s attention.
Bite Back said: “Some businesses are using child-appealing packaging to push unhealthy products to children. Offenders include Kinder Surprise, M&Ms, Randoms and Monster Munch Giants – all hiding behind colourful, child-appealing wrappers while stuffing their products with sugar and fat.”
Oliver said: “Whether it’s through fun characters, bright images or exciting new shapes, these switched-on companies are choosing them because they know they will capture young minds.
“This trick … is yet another way companies are bombarding kids with unhealthy junk food.”
Bite Back is presenting its evidence on Thursday to a House of Lords inquiry into ultra-processed food, diet and obesity.
The survey found that all 58 child-appealing products made by Mondelēz International – which owns the Cadbury, Oreo, Milka and Dairylea brands – were unhealthy. All 22 made by Ferrero contained large amounts of fat, salt or sugar too, Bite Back found.
Mars, PepsiCo and Kellogg’s sell dozens of products with child-appealing products that are unhealthy, the report found. However, none of Danone’s products that appeal to children were.
James Toop, the chief executive of Bite Back, asked ministers to “introduce new regulations to restrict these sinister tactics by junk food giants, as we are sleepwalking into a preventable health crisis”.
Mondelēz rejected the findings and said it was a “responsible food producer” which abided by the UK’s marketing codes. Its products “are marketed at adults and parents and intended as an occasional treat”, it added.
A spokesperson said they “disagree with the report’s characterisation of our products. For example, we do not believe that a product should be deemed to appeal to children because its packaging incorporates bright colours or distinctive shapes”.
In February, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, voiced concern that “as citizens we are highly manipulated by the marketing [of food] that’s thrown at us”. There is a “serious case to be made” for imposing new restrictions on food packaging, he added.
Pledging that a Labour government would bring in a 9pm watershed on advertising such products, Streeting also urged food producers to help tackle obesity or risk a “steamroller” forcing them to do so.
The Food and Drink Federation also defended food firms’ marketing tactics.
“Food and drink manufacturers comply strictly with rules on the advertising of less healthy food and drinks in children’s media, including on TV, online, in cinemas, in print media, and in outdoor setting,” a spokesperson said.
Danone said ministers and the food industry had to do more to ensure that food was healthier.
James Mayer, its UK and Ireland president, told the Lords inquiry on Monday that the government should bring forward a definition of what constitutes “healthy food”, based on the amount of fat, sugar and salt it contains, and force firms to publish details of how healthy their products are.
Danone “has committed to never produce a product for children which is high in fat, sugar or salt as defined by UK government legislation”, it added.
The Department of Health and Social Care said the government had “a proven track record of taking action on childhood obesity”.
“Our sugar reduction programme has successfully led to reductions in sugar levels across a wide variety of products, including breakfast cereals, yoghurts and milk-based drinks, while our Soft Drinks Industry Levy has nearly halved the amount of sugar in soft drinks – and research suggests this could have prevented up to 5,000 cases of obesity in girls in the last year of primary school,” the department said.
“We will take further action next year by implementing restrictions on offers like ‘buy one, get one free’, as well on the advertising of less healthy products on TV and online.”
• This article was amended on 2 May 2024 to correct the spelling of James Mayer’s surname.
