Health Canada is contemplating legislation that would prohibited the advertising of "unhealthy" food and beverages to children. If it moves forward to become law, foods identified as high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium would be captured. This is intended to restrict the marketing of foods like sugary soda, candy and 'junk' food snacks. However, the scope is sufficiently broad that even items such as cheese, sugar-sweetened yogurt and bagels may be captured, depending on the product formulation.
Quebec is currently the only jurisdiction in Canada that regulates advertising to children. In that province, advertising to children under the age of 13 is prohibited under the Consumer Protection Act. The provincial prohibition targets advertising "directed" to children, regardless of product category. Whether or not an ad is thought to be directed to children is sometimes a complicated question. The analysis turns not only on what is being advertised, but in what matter and in what media. Notably, while the age of a child for the purposes of the Quebec regulation is under the age of 13, the new federal food proposals contemplate 17 as the appropriate age, increasing the scope of audience typically thought in Canada to be potentially vulnerable due to youth. It also may mean that an individual would be permitted behind the wheel of a car before being exposed to advertising for foods deemed by the government to be unhealthy.
Public consultations held this past summer included (among other things) questions about the appropriate age to use as the limit, whether a threshold of 5% daily value, or 15%, of the identified nutrients should result in the food being deemed "unhealthy", and whether advertising ban should include limitations on sports team sponsorships. A prohibition on advertising to children all foods and beverages containing non-sugar sweeteners (e.g. Aspartame and Sucralose) was also open for discussion.
While the results of the public consultation have not yet been released, we expect movement within the year by the government to move forward with some sort of ban reflective of these concerns.
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