At the recent annual meeting of CAOBISCO—the European Association of Confectionery and Biscuit Manufacturers—held in Brussels, candy producers including Mars, Ferrero, Mondelez, and Nestlé, along with representatives from the European Commission, discussed the role the confectionery industry should play in addressing health concerns. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) stated that what consumers—especially parents—want from candy companies is to limit the children’s market.

Start by curbing obesity.

According to data from the World Health Organization, one-third of children in Europe are either overweight or obese, and their intake of sugar, salt, and saturated fatty acids significantly exceeds dietary recommendations. In other regions as well, this issue cannot be ignored and must receive urgent attention.

Impose restrictions on advertising

According to data from the American Psychological Association, children’s choices of unhealthy foods influenced by television advertisements are a critical factor contributing to obesity.

The data show that children who watch more television each day tend to consume more total calories, as well as more fast food and sugary drinks.

Therefore, BEUC is calling on confectionery, food, and beverage manufacturers to reduce the addition of sugar, salt, and saturated fatty acids, while increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and healthy proteins. For confectionery manufacturers, the first step they should take is to shrink their markets.

In 2010, CAOBISCO recommended that member companies join the European Union’s declaration calling for a ban on advertising aimed at children under the age of 12. Mars, Ferrero, Mondelez, and Nestlé all announced their commitment to comply with this declaration.

Declaration of Accession to the European Union

This EU declaration has certain limitations. Today’s children still receive vast amounts of information that encourage them to choose unhealthy foods—such as candies, cookies, and other snacks featuring cartoon characters on their packaging.

Advertising by member companies of the EU Declaration accounts for 80% of the EU’s food and beverage industry, according to Pauline Castres, a food policy officer at BEUC. She stated that confectionery manufacturers should reflect on health concerns, while government authorities should play a role in setting targets.

Currently, food companies are voluntarily joining the EU declaration, and each food company has implemented improvement policies targeting the children’s market.

Stricter regulations are coming soon.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (CAP) is currently introducing a policy that would completely ban advertisements for high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar (HFSS) foods—a move that extends the current requirements already in place for non-broadcast media, such as online platforms.

Although many member companies have reorganized their products, adjusting package sizes remains a common practice among many large corporations.

Control package size

Castres strongly supports CAOBISCO’s call to reduce the size of candy product packaging. At the same time, however, she pointed out that the prices of smaller-packaged foods should also be appropriately lowered to make them affordable for consumers. “Small-sized packages cost more than twice as much as larger ones, and these higher prices are simply unaffordable for low-income families,” she said.

In addition, Castres believes that the size indicated on the trademark should accurately reflect the actual amount consumers actually receive.

The amount of sugar added will be indicated.

BEUC stated that the EU’s legislation on “Food Information to Consumers (FIC)” means that, starting December 13, 2016, food businesses will be obligated to provide nutritional information about their products.

Such labeling won't pose a major issue for candy companies—consumers won't be shocked to find sugar in their chocolate. By contrast, the impact might be greater for other product categories: For instance, consumers are often surprised when they discover high sugar content in what they perceive as very healthy milk-based breakfast cereals or in supposedly wholesome cereal bars.

In the United States, Mars Chocolate supports labeling that indicates the amount of added sugar, and the National Confectioners Association also stated that the nutrition labels on products need further revisions.

BEUC supports the introduction of a traffic-light labeling system in the EU. Castres stated that the traffic-light labels will not focus solely on obesity and will help consumers identify high levels of sugar and saturated fatty acids in products that claim to be very healthy.