by Rachel Zegerius

Source: Frankie Leon

Some of the same conventional processed food companies that are listening to their customers’ demands to remove synthetic and artificial ingredients are, simultaneously, being investigated for target-marketing nutritionally poor foods directly to communities of color.

A recent report by the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity examines TV food advertising, and other forms of marketing, to young Hispanic and Black consumers.

The research shows that these young people receive a “double dose” of promotions for products high in sugar, saturated fat, and sodium. In fact, two‐thirds of food ads viewed by Hispanic children and teens promote fast food, candy, sugary drinks, and snacks.

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The companies studied spent a whopping $440 million on such ads while just 3 percent of ads ($10 Million) promoted healthier alternatives like yogurt, other dairy, and 100% juice. The amount spent on TV ads for fruits, vegetables, and pure water? Nada.

Public health experts are concerned that exposure to racially/ethnically targeted food marketing contributes to poor diet and health disparities for young African Americans and Latinos, including higher rates of obesity and other diseases. Advocates and policymakers have proposed numerous obesity prevention actions, including the need for dramatic changes in targeted marketing practices from key stakeholders within industry.

Carol Hazen, director of advocacy resources for the Food Marketing Initiative at the Rudd Center, noted in an interview with Al Jazeera, “When you add together target marketing and the disparate rates of diet-related diseases, what you have is a social justice issue.”

Research like this can help us identify opportunities to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities, young people of color.

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