Unhealthy food-ads for children

Sydney Law School PhD candidate Belinda Reeve says the codes that regulate junk food advertising to children have a number of “critical loopholes” in their terms and conditions.

Belinda is researching the legal effectiveness of both the Responsible Children's Marketing Initiative (RCMI) and the Australian Quick Service Restaurant Industry Initiative for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children (QSR initiative).

Speaking to the ABC, Belinda says that that processes for administering and enforcing the codes are “very weak”.

“Some of those loopholes would be that the codes only apply to food advertising that specifically targets children,” she asserts.

“What that means is that it doesn't actually reduce children's exposure to advertising that promotes unhealthy products.

“Another problem is that they only apply to a very narrow range of products, which means that companies that join these codes can advertise most of their products to children.”