There is a consensus! Junk food promotion to children will be banned

High-salt, high-calorie foods are nicknamed "junk food". Long-term consumption may lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome. In particular, this type of food is more often promoted to children, causing children to have unhealthy diets and leading to a large number of obese children. The Department of Health and legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties have reached a consensus to amend the law to prohibit the promotion of junk food to children, including restricting the broadcast of junk food advertisements on children's programs and channels, and prohibiting the provision of giveaways.

The Legislative Yuan's Health and Environment Committee reviewed the provisions of the "Draft Amendment to the Food Sanitation Management Act" today, the 10th. The Executive Yuan version and the versions proposed by the ruling and opposition legislators reached a consensus that "for foods that have scientific evidence showing are not suitable for long-term consumption by children, their promotion or advertising will be restricted on channels or programs that are mainly watched by children, and their sale as free gifts will be prohibited."

The general definition of junk food includes fast food, fried food and sugary drinks. In the future, foods that may not be promoted to children may include fried chicken, hamburgers, potato chips, sugary drinks, etc.

In fact, foreign countries have already implemented such measures. After New York State announced a ban on stores selling large cups of sugary (sparkling) drinks, Disney also announced last year that starting in 2015, it would strictly prohibit its TV stations from airing "junk food advertisements." In other words, as long as the products launched by food companies do not meet the minimum nutritional requirements set by experts, the Disney channel group will not grant advertising rights.

The Child Welfare Foundation released a survey last year, pointing out that Taiwanese children watch more than 8,000 junk food commercials a year on average. In particular, in popular cartoons watched by children, a junk food commercial appears on average once every 6.6 minutes. The Department of Health stated that if the draft amendment is passed, if junk food advertisements are found on children's programs or channels in the future, the TV station will be required to stop broadcasting immediately. Otherwise, a fine of NT$120,000 to NT$600,000 may be imposed, and broadcasting operators will also be fined NT$40,000 to NT$200,000.

As for the fact that junk food should not be given with gifts to attract children, there is also a clear consensus, but the penalties are yet to be further formulated.