Summary:
This regulation on marketing restrictions establishes requirements for marketing of foods considered to have high amounts of sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and beverages with low nutritional content.
Description:
Resolution scope: regulation on marketing restrictions
The resolution regulates marketing aimed at the dissemination and commercial promotion of foods with high amounts of sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and beverages with low nutritional content (Art. 1). In fact, the goal of the regulation is to curb excessive practices that lead the public, especially children, to consumption patterns incompatible with health and that violate their right to adequate nutrition (Art. 2).
Firstly, the resolution aims to be comprehensive, encompassing the offer, advertising, publicity, information, and other related practices aimed at the dissemination and commercial promotion of foods (Art. 3). Secondly, it clarifies that it does not apply to the labeling of those products (Art. 3.3). Thirdly, it establishes specific thresholds for considering food and beverages as high in sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium (Art. 4).
In addition, the resolution provides that marketing of those foods shall be direct and truthful, easily recognizable as promotional. It is also foreseen that marketing practices shall include warnings statements related to risks associated with consumption of foods high in sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium (Art. 6). It is explicitly foreseen that warnings even in case it takes place on television, radio, or on the internet (Art. 7), as well as in promotion (Art. 8) and sponsorship of those products (Art. 9), as well as corporate social responsibility activities (Art. 10).
Above all, marketing of unhealthy food and beverages must not include misleading indications, names, symbols, or figures that create confusion about their origin, nature, quality, composition, or falsely attribute superior nutritional characteristics (Article 11). Warnings are mandatory and should be contextualized for any marketing practice of unhealthy food and beverages that are directed at children (Article 12).
Resolution current status and its application
The unhealthy food and beverage industry challenged the resolution in many judicial procedures. These judicial disputes are contesting ANVISA’s authority regarding marketing regulation. In this sense, there are still seven procedures ongoing.
In one of them, there is a decision that exempts the application of ANVISA’s resolution to the members of the Brazilian Food Industry Association (in Portuguese, “Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Alimentos” – ABIA). ABIA is one of the major of big industries association in Brazil, which, in fact, exempts almost all the producers of unhealthy food from applying the resolution. However, the regulation on marketing restrictions is ready to enforce the companies to acomplish it. For instance, McDonald’s was accused of offering meals without providing information about their health risks.