Nestle USA to Stop Marketing Candy to Kids

(MoneyWatch)  As of this week, Nestle's pledge is official: the company will stop advertising its sugary products to children under 12 and instead focus on selling them healthier things like juice and low-fat chocolate milk. It will also cut advertising completely to kids under six.

Nestle is the 15th company approved for the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, which the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) started in 2006. And there's been a flurry of other children's health initiatives lately by companies already signed onto the pledge -- last month Burger King lowered the amount of sodium in its kids meals, and Campbell Soup created lower-fat, lower-sodium versions of some of its products just for schools.

But it's hard not to question the motives behind these steps -- are they really out of concern for children's health, or are companies just trying to avert legislation by showing they can address the obesity epidemic without government interference?

Certainly the public is skeptical. A recent survey by the American Dietetics Association showed that when it comes to nutrition information, consumers trust food companies less than they trust anyone else.

That registered dietitians, nutritionists, physicians, nurses and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid ranked higher than food manufacturers may be somewhat understandable. But ... schools, personal trainers, newspapers, health clubs, family/friends, the Internet, television, radio and grocery stores all were considered more credible sources of nutrition information...

Even in its press release applauding Nestle's move, the Center for Science in the Public Interest couldn't resist adding a not-so-veiled call for legislation, saying that Congress "should take a fresh look at whether this voluntary initiative is sufficient to protect children from obesity-promoting advertising." CSPI also called out Subway, Chuck E. Cheese's and Pizza Hut for refusing to participate in the program.

Back in June, CSPI initiated a letter writing campaign to Nestle encouraging the company to sign on. Nestle had already made similar pledges on children's advertising in other countries, including the EU and Canada, but it delayed taking the U.S. pledge until late July because, according to a spokeswoman, Nestle wanted to make sure the details fit with the company's recently-revised global policies.