Kellogg announces children's food and beverage pledge

Kellogg Company has joined ten other major companies (including Cadbury Adams, Campbell Soup, The Coca-Cola Co., General Mills, The Hershey Co., Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonald's USA, PepsiCo, and Unilever) to announce its Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.

As previously announced in June, Kellogg has pledged to change what and how it markets to children under 12 using nutrition criteria.  The company will use its Kellogg Global Nutrient Criteria [PDF] to determine which products will be marketed to children on TV, print, radio and Internet as well as how those products are marketed, including use of licensed properties, Web site activities directed to children, promotions/premiums, product placement and in-school marketing.  Kellogg will continue its practice of not advertising to children under 6.

The Better Business Bureau will monitor and report on the companies' compliance with their pledges.  The full text of each company pledge and information about the Initiative's standards are available at the BBB website.

Kellogg will apply the Nutrient Criteria to all of its products marketed to children under age 12 around the world.  Those products that don't meet the Criteria (almost 50% of Kellogg products currently marketed to children worldwide) will either be reformulated to meet the Nutrient Criteria or they will no longer be marketed to children under 12 by the end of 2008.

With 2006 sales of almost US$11 billion, Kellogg Company is the world's leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit snacks, frozen waffles, and veggie foods. Kellogg products are manufactured in 17 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries around the world.