At the CAOBISCO annual meeting held in Brussels, confectionery manufacturers such as Mars, Ferrero, Mondelēz and Nestlé, as well as representatives of the European Commission, discussed the role of the confectionery industry in health issues. According to the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), for confectionery companies, what consumers want is to limit the children's market.

Start with curbing obesity

According to the World Health Organization, 1/3 of children in Europe are overweight or obese, and their intake of sugar, salt and saturated fatty acids is much higher than dietary recommendations. In other regions, too, this issue cannot be ignored and must be addressed.

Impose constraints on advertising

According to the American Psychological Association, children are influenced by TV commercials to choose unhealthy foods, which is a very critical factor in causing obesity.

The data shows that children who watch more TV every day have a higher total calorie intake, as well as fast food and sugary drinks.

Therefore, BEUC requires confectionery, food and beverage manufacturers to reduce the addition of sugar, salt, and saturated fatty acids, while increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and healthy proteins. For confectionery producers, the first thing to do is to shrink the market.

IN 2010, CAOBISCO SUGGESTED THAT MEMBER COMPANIES COULD JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S DECLARATION TO BAN ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 12. Mars, Ferrero, Mondelēz and Nestlé have all declared compliance with the Declaration.

Declaration on accession to the European Union

The EU declaration has certain limitations. Today's children are still exposed to a wealth of information that prompts them to choose unhealthy foods, such as candy, cookies, and other snacks with cartoon characters on their packaging.

Advertising by EU Declaration member companies accounts for 80% of the EU's food and beverage industry, and BEUC food policy officer Pauline Castres said confectionery producers should reflect on health issues, and the government should also play a role in setting targets.

At present, food companies are voluntarily joining the EU declaration, and food companies have made improvement policies for the children's market.

Stricter regulations are coming

The UK Advertising Council (CAP) is currently rolling out a policy to completely ban ads for high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar foods (HFSS), which is an extension of the current requirements for non-broadcast media, such as online platforms.

Although many member companies have restructured their products, it is still a measure of many large companies to adjust the size of the packaging.

Control the amount of packaging

Castilles strongly agrees with CAOBISCO's request to reduce the size of confectionery packaging, but also points out that the price of small packages should also be appropriately reduced to make them affordable for consumers, saying, "Small packages will be more than twice as expensive as other sizes, which are unaffordable for low-income households." ”

In addition, Castres believes that the size of each serving indicated on the trademark should be a true reflection of how much the consumer is actually eating.

The amount of sugar added will be indicated

BEUC said that the European Union's legislation on "Food Information for Consumers (FIC)" means that from 13 December 2016, food companies will be obliged to provide nutritional information about their products.

Such labels are not a big problem for confectionery companies, and consumers will not be shocked by the fact that they eat sugar in chocolate. Comparatively, it can be more impactful for other categories, such as consumers who are often surprised to see a lot of sugar in a muesli that they think is very healthy, or a lot of sugar in a healthy cereal bar.

In the U.S., Mars chocolate supports labeling of added sugars, and the National Confectionery Association has also stated that the product's nutrition list needs to be further changed.

BEUC supports the roll-out of a TLS labelling system in the EU. Castres said the TLS label will not be limited to obesity and will help consumers identify high levels of sugar and saturated fatty acids in products that claim to be healthy.