Cartoon characters in unhealthy food promotions attacked
POPULAR cartoon characters are being used to promote fatty, sugary and salty foods to youngsters, a report warns.
Shrek, Bratz, the Simpsons and the Pink Panther are among the familiar faces appearing on unhealthy products, the consumers’ organisation Which? found.
The use of the characters to promote foods high in fat, salt or sugar undermines parents’ efforts to help their children eat healthily, Which? said.
Researchers bought products featuring popular children’s cartoon characters from UK supermarkets between March and June this year.
They also looked at other food promotions that used cartoons.
All the food products were then analysed to find their levels of salt, saturated fat and sugar.
The “Cartoon Heroes and Villains” report lists an array of unhealthy products with cartoon characters on the packaging.
Many products featuring cartoon characters have no nutritional information on packs to help parents assess how healthy they are, Which? said.
The consumer group also criticised fast-food chains for running giveaway promotions using popular cartoon characters.
Which?’s chief policy adviser Sue Davies said: “There are precious few examples of cartoons being used to promote healthy products. Our research shows that the majority are being used to encourage children to eat fatty, sugary and salty foods.”
The consumer group praised Disney for recently announcing a ban on their characters being used to promote unhealthy products.
Which? is calling for other firms to follow suit. It also wants regulation to be brought in to stop “irresponsible” marketing of unhealthy food to children via TV adverts, packaging, free gifts and websites.
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