Question Period Note: Restrictions on Food Advertising to Childern

• Between April and June 2023, Health Canada consulted Canadians on a policy update regarding its proposed approach to restricting the advertising of foods to children (known as M2K). The policy will form the basis of draft regulations expected to be published in Spring 2024 for public consultation (CGI). The proposed restrictions are more targeted than what was proposed in 2018 and will apply to TV and online media only. Health stakeholders are supportive of federal action and the targeted restrictions given the proposed policy’s strong nutrient criteria, its application in areas of high exposure and the commitment to continued monitoring to inform potential future actions, however, will continue to advocate for broader restrictions. Industry is critical of the government advancing regulations as they recently introduced their new self-regulatory advertising Code, which was implemented on June 28, 2023.

• Our Government supports restrictions on food advertising to children, to protect them from the risks of chronic diseases caused by an unhealthy diet.
• Health Canada recently consulted on an approach, focussing restrictions on television and online media, areas where children are highly exposed to food advertising.
• The Department has reviewed the feedback, which will help inform draft regulations for public consultation in spring 2024.
• Health Canada will continue to monitor food advertising to children in Canada to ensure it has the best available evidence.
IF PRESSED ON BILL C-252 AND REGULATORY ALIGNMENT
• We continue to support MP Lattanzio’s Private Member’s Bill (C-252 – Child Health Protection Act) to help protect children from the influence of advertising of certain foods, which is continuing through the legislative process.
• In spring 2023, in parallel to consideration of Bill C-252, Health Canada also consulted on an updated policy approach to restrict food advertising to children, which could be implemented under existing authorities.
• Bill C-252 seeks to introduce an advertising prohibition at the level of the Food and Drugs Act and is complementary to Health Canada’s regulatory work.
IF PRESSED ON EXISTING LAWS IN QUEBEC AND INTERPLAY WITH POTENTIAL FEDERAL RESTRICTIONS
• I would like to commend Quebec’s decades of leadership in protecting those most vulnerable from the impacts of advertising through the Consumer Protection Act.
• Implementing federal regulations would provide nation-wide protections against food advertising primarily directed at children, which I believe will complement Quebec’s efforts.
• Health Canada’s food advertising prohibition is not intended to interfere or conflict with existing restrictions on advertising to children in Quebec. They would therefore continue to apply and would operate in parallel with federal restrictions.
• We remain committed to engaging all interested partners and stakeholders on our approach.
IF PRESSED ON INDUSTRY’S SELF-REGULATORY ADVERTISING CODE
• We appreciate industry’s efforts in implementing their new Code for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to Children in 2023.
• Our proposal reinforces restrictions where children are highly exposed, on TV and online, offering enhanced protections for children from the impacts of food advertising.
• We acknowledge the Code will provide protections in media and settings beyond our proposal, such as in schools, radio and print. We will continue monitoring food advertising to children and teens across multiple areas to inform future actions.

• Almost one in three children in Canada (two in three Indigenous children) lives with overweight or obesity. There is an increasingly urgent public health concern associated with excess weight because children who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk of developing chronic conditions and illnesses such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke – conditions that were once almost exclusively seen in adults.
• Research shows that unhealthy diets with excess intakes of sodium, sugars and/or saturated fat are a key modifiable risk factor linked to obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, among other chronic diseases. People with diet-related conditions and chronic diseases are also much more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 outcomes.
• Many children in Canada are consuming excess amounts of these nutrients of public health concern. For example, 81% of children between the ages of 1 and 3 and 99% of children between the ages of 4 and 13 years exceed recommended limits of sodium intake. As for sugars, 78% of children aged 1-8 years and 86% of children aged 9-13 years exceed the WHO recommendation.

Key Evidence

• Children are particularly vulnerable to advertising. Research in this area suggest that children under 8 years of age do not possess the cognitive abilities to understand the purpose of advertising. Only from the age of 10 or 11 is a child’s level of advertising recognition comparable to an adult’s. By the age of twelve, most children have an understanding of the selling and persuasive intent of advertising but have still not acquired an adult-like understanding.
• Evidence shows that food advertising influences children’s food attitudes, preferences, purchase requests, consumption patterns, and ultimately, overall health.
• In 2019, children aged 2 to 11 were exposed to an average of 1,733 food advertisements on television, which translates to 33 food ads/week and close to 5 foods ads per day for the average child. The majority of these ads were for foods that contribute to excess intakes of sodium, sugars and/or saturated fat.
• A Canadian study published in 2019 estimated that children aged 7-11 are exposed to approximately 30 foods ads per week, and youth aged 13-16 an average of 189 ads per week, on social media apps alone. More than 90% of ads were for foods that contribute to excess intakes of sodium, sugars and/or saturated fat.
• Studies have shown that advertisers typically employ strategies that strongly appeal to children. For example, they feature striking graphics and visual design, including cartoons, use child humour and fun themes, link the promotion of their products to incentives such as free toys and feature movie and sports celebrities popular with children. In addition, behavioural tracking and targeted advertising allows companies to reach children with more precision in digital media.

Health Canada’s Initiatives

• Restricting the advertising of certain foods to children is a foundational initiative of Health Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy, which was launched in 2016, and has been a Minister of Health mandate letter commitment since 2015.
• Through the Healthy Eating Strategy, the Government has undertaken a robust set of initiatives to improve the food environment in Canada and help Canadians make healthier food choices.
• Significant progress has been made by improving nutrition labelling, eliminating industrial trans fats in the food supply, releasing a new Canada’s food guide, publishing new sodium reduction targets for processed foods, and publishing front-of-package nutrition labelling regulations. The Government remains committed to implement mandatory restrictions on the advertising of certain foods to children to protect this vulnerable population.

Parliamentary Initiatives Related to Food Advertising to Children

• In February 2022, Ms. Patricia Lattanzio, M.P. (Liberal) introduced a Private Member’s Bill (Bill C-252 – Child Health Protection Act) to prohibit food and beverage marketing directed at children. On September 28, 2022, it passed Second Reading and was referred to Committee (HESA) for further review. The Bill was adopted by the Committee on April 18, 2023, passed by the House of Commons, and began Second Reading in the Senate on November 30, 2023. The Bill has been debated at Second Reading on four occasions since that time (it was last debated on April 16, 2024). It is unknown when Second Reading debate in the Senate will conclude.
• Other legislative attempts have been made to restrict food advertising by Parliamentarians. For example, Senate Public Bill S-228, The Child Health Protection Act, introduced by former Conservative Senator Nancy Greene Raine in September 2016, aimed to reduce the influence of food advertising on children. An amended version of the Bill received strong support from national health groups, including Dietitians of Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Coalition Poids, Diabetes Canada, and the Childhood Obesity Foundation. The Bill was also strongly opposed and heavily lobbied by major industry stakeholders. This included the Canadian Beverage Association, Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada, Restaurants Canada, the Retail Council of Canada and the Association of Canadian Advertisers. Bill S-228 did not come to a final vote before the end of the Parliamentary session in the fall of 2019.

Industry Code

• Industry in Canada has self-regulated food advertising to children since 2007 through its Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI). In summer 2021, four major industry associations (Association of Canadian Advertisers, Restaurants Canada, Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada and Canadian Beverage Association) developed and introduced a new Code for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to Children, which Ad Standards began administering on June 28, 2023. While industry anticipates the new Code is expected to result in some improvements compared with the CAI, such as applying to a broader range of food and advertising companies and raising the age of children protected from under 12 to under 13, significant gaps remain that will continue to leave children much exposed to food advertising. These gaps are due to weaker nutrient and advertising criteria, exemptions, and limited consequences for non-compliance given the voluntary nature of the code (i.e., not regulatory).

Quebec experience with restrictions on advertising

• Québec’s 1980 Consumer Protection Act (QCPA) restricts the commercial advertising to children of all goods and services. The restrictions apply to most forms of advertising and media, including mascots and logos (i.e., brand advertising) and sponsorship. Subject to conditions, the QCPA exempts advertising in children’s magazines, advertising for children’s entertainment events and advertising via store windows, displays, containers, packaging and labels.
• The scope and policy intent of Health Canada’s approach differs from that of Québec.
• Health Canada’s proposal is aimed at protecting children’s health and so it focusses uniquely on advertising to children of certain foods. The QCPA, on the other hand, has a broader consumer protection objective and targets the advertising of all goods and services, including food, to children.
• Health Canada’s M2K proposal considered the QCPA, among other things, and aligns with it in a few ways:
o Under both frameworks, advertising restrictions apply to children under the age of 13.
o Both Health Canada’s proposed policy and the QCPA take into consideration similar factors to determine whether an ad is primarily directed at children (i.e., where the ad is communicated and design/appeal of the ad).
• However, the QCPA also considers the appeal of the good/service, which is not relevant for Health Canada’s proposed policy given that Health Canada’s restrictions are concerned only with food advertising.

Monitoring
• As part of its comprehensive monitoring of the food advertising environment, Health Canada is monitoring advertising of foods to children and teenagers.
• Health Canada will continue to monitor and report publicly on food advertising to children and teens, across a variety of settings, media and techniques, including in settings and media where regulations would not apply, to help inform potential future regulatory changes.

• Diet-related chronic disease is a critical issue for Canadians and the entire Canadian health care system.
• There is a strong body of evidence showing that healthy eating patterns can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and associated conditions such as obesity and high blood pressure.
• Almost one in three children in Canada (two in three Indigenous children) lives with overweight or obesity. These children are at a higher risk of developing health problems and chronic diseases now, and later in life.
• Evidence shows that food advertising influences children’s food attitudes, preferences, purchase requests, consumption patterns, and ultimately, overall health. The more children are exposed to food advertising, the more likely they are to request or consume advertised foods.
• In Canada, children are exposed to food advertising throughout their day in a variety of settings, including in their homes (e.g., while watching TV or browsing the internet), recreation centers, outdoors, in restaurants, and in grocery stores.
• The evolution of online media and the popularity of smart phones, tablets, computers, and other devices have made it easier for advertisers to reach children, subjecting them to further advertising of foods that contribute to excessive intakes of sugars, sodium and saturated fat.
• Health Canada continues to advance work on restricting food advertising to children and consulted on a policy update regarding its proposed approach to restricting the advertising of food to children.