The food industry often uses health claims to promote its products to consumers, including parents seeking nutritious options for their children. Parents and children in low-income and racial/ethnic minority households at greatest risk for childhood obesity are disproportionately exposed to these claims through advertising. Regulators can pursue deceptive and/or unfair health claims, but these actions require a better understanding of prior efforts in this area, including which types of claims have been targeted. Accordingly, the aims of this study are to: 1) conduct a comprehensive legal review of health claims on foods marketed to children that have been the subject of state, federal, or private litigation or governmental regulation, and 2) develop a legal toolkit for federal and state policy-makers and regulators interested in pursuing deceptive and/or unfair health claims on foods marketed to children, based on the findings from Aim 1.
Start Date: March 2013
ID #: 70755
Principal Investigator: Lainie Rutkow, JD, PhD, MPH
Co-Principal Investigator: Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Funding Round: Round 7
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Adults and Families, Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Food advertising, Front-of-package labeling, Legal
Focus Area: Food Marketing
Resource Type: Grant Summary
State: National
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