Fight erupts over food marketing restrictions for children

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pushing back hard on
industry’s campaign against proposed voluntary restrictions on food marketing
to children.

The commission, one of four government agencies tasked with drawing up the
guidelines, lambasted industry critics who suggest the anti-obesity proposal is
a backdoor effort to regulate commercial speech. In a sharply worded 12-point
rebuttal, the FTC said the proposal “doesn’t ban any marketing or any
foods at all.”

{mosads}”We’ve also heard amped-up stories claiming to know what this project is
‘really’ about and suggesting that the agencies are trying to ban almost all
food marketing to kids and punish food companies that don’t adhere strictly to
the principles,” David Vladeck, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection,
wrote on the FTC’s blog.

“Frankly, these folks might want to switch to decaf.”

The retort comes after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday assailed the
guidelines through a panel of experts. Their criticisms, The Hill reported
Thursday, range from allegations that the guidelines would violate the First
Amendment to questions about their efficiency.

Despite being voluntary, said Northwestern University law Professor Martin Redish, the
guidelines could have a chilling effect on commercial speech for several
reasons, including regulators’ control over the food industry; reputational damage for companies that don’t comply; pressure on media outlets not to carry the advertising; and the heightened risk of class-action lawsuits.

The FTC said those concerns were all “myths.”

“A report is not a law, a regulation or an order, and it can’t be enforced,”
Vladeck wrote. “While we hope companies voluntarily choose to adopt the
principles (when finalized), there’s no legal consequence if they don’t. So
there’s no effect on their free speech rights.”

Businesses, parents, consumer groups and others have until July 14 to comment
on the proposal.