Day 047 - 07 Nov 94 - Page 32
1 A. It is a re-wording of the previous point. The previous
2 point said "must not encourage children to eat frequently
3 during the day"; now it says, "must not encourage or
4 condone excessive consumption of any food". I think you
5 are right; I think it is a basically new point, yes.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: Thank you.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, it is a new point, is it, because --
10 correct me if I am wrong -- the new document you have got
11 applies to all consumers at whom it may be directed, as
12 opposed to just children, save where it expressly mentions
13 children. Children are not mentioned in (a), but they are
14 mentioned, for instance, in (c) and (d), whereas what I had
15 previously photocopied was appendix 1, which was
16 Advertising and Children, i.e., children alone.
17 A. Yes, that is correct, my Lord. The new proposals from
18 the ITC is to have a new section on food which includes
19 some of the previous rules on children and food and some
20 taken from elsewhere in the code, and some additional ones;
21 and this is, although not substantially different, a new
22 form of words.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: I cannot find it, but the codes that we were
25 referring to, May 1993 Children, Health and Hygiene,
26 section 11, is there an identical section for general adult
27 health and hygiene, or that is not just in there at all?
28 A. No, there is not.
29
30 Q. So, for adults, the points (a), (b) and (c) in code
31 number 11, for children, there is no equivalent for adults
32 at all?
33 A. There is no direct equivalent.
34
35 Q. So, in fact, if these were related to adults, they would be
36 all new points, whereas with children, it is just some new
37 points, because children have already been a focus?
38 A. Yes.
39
40 Q. This particular new point on over-eating -- "excessive
41 consumption of foods" -- would you say that is as a result
42 of concerns in the Health of the Nation, and elsewhere,
43 about the problem of obesity and the diseases connected
44 with it?
45 A. I cannot say that it is particularly directed to that.
46 It is saying of any food, of any specific food. To achieve
47 a balanced diet, it is self-evident that one needs to have
48 foods of a wide variety of kinds. We all know the
49 different categories of food. This new form of wording, I
50 think, is emphasising the benefits of a balanced diet or,
51 in advertising terms, the importance of not encouraging
52 excessive consumption of any one food, whatever that food
53 may be.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: But if that was true then, presumably, every
56 company that is advertising a very limited food would be
57 promoting----
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, that does not follow. I have in mind a
60 jingle. I almost hesitate to repeat it in a public court.
