The Consumers’ Foundation urged the government yesterday to regulate the marketing of food to children, especially promotional tactics such as special package designs and free toys.
The foundation’s call came four days before World Consumer Rights Day on Sunday with this year’s theme being the “Junk Food Generation.”
STUDENTS SURVEYED
The foundation surveyed 88 Taipei Municipal Hu Shih Elementary School students on Monday and found that 92 percent know junk food could harm their health, while 85 percent of respondents said they knew what kinds of food are unhealthy.
However, 51 percent of the respondents said they would be tempted to buy unhealthy food if free toys were offered or because of the cartoon designs on the packages.
CONVENIENCE STORES
The foundation said more than half of the 33 snack products — 19 or 58 percent — bought at local convenience stores had cartoon designs on the packages or included free toys. Eight of the products had both.
Foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said such marketing tactics were obviously aimed at increasing children’s consumption of these products, which could lead to obesity and other health concerns.
OBESITY
Citing estimates from the International Obesity Taskforce, Hsieh said at least 155 million, or 10 percent of school-aged children worldwide are overweight or obese, with around 3 million to 45 million are in the obese range.
Studies show that one-third of obese children face obesity problems during adulthood, Hsieh said.
COLOR-CODED
To help consumers determine at a glance whether the foods are healthy, Hsieh suggested Taiwan follow the UK’s example of a “traffic light” food label system that marks processed food products red, yellow or green, based on their levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.
Hsieh also urged the government to ban commercials for junk food on children’s TV channels.
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