Portugal leads the way in banning junk food advertising

Before the Law came into force, Portuguese food marketing was self-regulatory which has shown to be ineffective [3].

The ban applies to a variety of channels, including television, radio, print, and online. It also covers advertising in schools and other places where children are likely to see it. The Consumer Directorate-General has responsibility for investigating alleged violations, providing recommendations, and monitoring online advertising to detect any instances of unfair commercial practices.

The ban is part of a broader effort by the Portuguese government to address obesity. The Government has initiated several policies to promote healthy eating and joined forces with EU Best-ReMaP Joint Action to address the obesogenic environment via:

• food systems reforms,
• regulation of food advertisements,
• food security for all.

Criteria to define “unhealthy” foods in Portugal.

Portugal uses the Portuguese Nutrient Profile Model (PT-NPM) to define unhealthy food products when deciding on advertisement banning [2]. The PT-NPM is based on the WHO Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model (WHO-RPN). The WHO-RPN is a tool that is used to assess the nutritional quality of food products in order to protect public health [4]. The PT-NPM takes into account the following nutrients:

• Energy
• Sugars
• Saturated fat
• Trans fat
• Salt

Products that meet the following criteria are considered to be unhealthy:

• Energy: Products with more than 200 kilocalories (kcal) per 100 grams (g) of product.
• Sugars: Products with more than 5 grams of sugars per 100 grams of product.
• Saturated fat: Products with more than 1.5 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams of product.
• Trans fat: Products with more than 0.5 grams of trans fat per 100 grams of product.
• Salt: Products with more than 1.2 grams of salt per 100 grams of product.

The PT-NPM is a dynamic tool, meaning that it is updated regularly to reflect new scientific evidence. This ensures that the criteria used to define "unhealthy" food products is always up-to-date and reflects the latest evidence about the link between unhealthy food consumption and childhood obesity.

Challenges of Protecting Children in the Digital Age

According to a WHO report from 2021, the use of online digital marketing and social media in digital food environments poses several new challenges for banning food advertising to children [1]. Social media influencers, who are not necessarily certified nutritionists or medical professionals, play a significant role in influencing the food choices of children. There is also the possibility of misinformation or incorrect information related to diet and food choices propagating on social media.

In this context, it is necessary to train the next generation of professionals to re-envision food systems that are not only economically efficient but are also resilient and sustainable [1]. There is also a need to regulate digital marketing to children to protect their rights and privacy. It is important to address these challenges in order to protect the health of children by evolving technological advances and AI resources to monitor the digital marketing strategies.

In addition, the law does not clearly define what constitutes a "children's programme." This could lead to confusion and uncertainty about which programmes are subject to the ban. Additionally, the law bans television or radio programmes that have at least 25% of their audience under the age of 16. However, this could be difficult to enforce, as the audience for a programme is not often known. Finally, the law does not specify how to identify recipients of content on the internet or in mobile applications who are under 16 years old. This could be a problem, as these platforms often do not use age restrictions.

Digital Technologies to Fight Unhealthy Marketing

Portugal is one of the few countries where the CLICK monitoring framework has been piloted. This tool was developed by the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases to monitor children's exposure to marketing of unhealthy products online [1]. The framework includes five steps:

1. Comprehending the digital ecosystem: involves understanding the different ways that children are exposed to digital marketing, including through social media, search engines, and gaming platforms.
2. Analysing online advertising campaigns: involves analysing the content of online advertising campaigns to identify how they are targeting children.
3. Investigating children's exposure to digital marketing tools: involves investigating how children are exposed to digital marketing tools, such as social media influencers and branded content.
4. Capturing on-screen marketing content: involves capturing on-screen marketing content to track how often children are exposed to unhealthy food advertising.
5. Sharing knowledge with young people, parents, policymakers and members of civil society: involves sharing the findings of the framework to raise awareness of the issue of digital marketing to children.

The Framework uses smartphone apps to collect data on paid-for advertisements and children's interaction with advertisements. The apps are designed to collect information about the type of advertisements children are exposed to, the frequency of exposure, and the children's reaction to the advertisements. The apps also collect data about the social media content that children are exposed to, and the brands and campaigns that are being promoted [1].

The policy is due to be evaluated every five years which means an evaluation is expected in 2024. This will hopefully provide some information on its impact.

References

[1] WHO (2021) Future steps to tackle obesity: digital innovations into policy and actions. Conference report, 29 June 2021. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2021. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

[2] Santos, M., et al. (2023) Nutritional quality of foods consumed by the Portuguese population according to the Nutri-Score and consistency with nutritional recommendations, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 120, 105338, ISSN 0889-1575, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105338.

[3] Food Industry Commitments on Diet, Physical Activity and Health: Advertising and marketing directed at children (Compromissos da indústria alimentar sobre Alimentação, Actividade Física e Saúde: Publicidade e Marketing dirigidos a Crianças) https://alimentacaosaudavel.dgs.pt/activeapp2020/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Compromissos-da-industria-alimentar-sobre-Alimentacao-Atividade-Fisica-e-Saude.pdf

[4] WHO European Region (2021) Use of nutrient profile models for nutrition and health policies: meeting report on the use of nutrient profile models in the WHO European Region, September 2021. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.