ABA Calls for marketing proposal withdrawal

The American Bakers Association (ABA) called on the Interagency Working Group (IWG) to withdraw its proposal for foods marketed to children and to take a fresh approach based on sound science of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. ABA also urged IWG to build on successful industry initiatives. Eight grains industry partners joined ABA in the comments filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

“Bakers, and our grain industry partners, have a long-standing commitment to provide Americans with a wide variety of healthy foods,” said ABA President and CEO Robb MacKie. “This proposal significantly undermines the highly successful Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate and would confuse families with its unscientific nutrition standards.”

“ABA supports the goals of the proposal to improve the diets of children, however, disallowing the marketing of healthy staples such as enriched and whole grain foods jeopardizes children's health,” added ABA Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Public Affairs Lee Sanders. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently listed folic acid fortification of enriched grain products as a top 10 public health achievement in first decade of 21st century, yet marketing of these foods would be prohibited under the proposal,” Ms. Sanders concluded.
“IWG needs to start over and work from the new Dietary Guidelines which provide solid, science-based nutrition advice for all Americans, including children. Government nutrition initiatives are required to be based on these guidelines to ensure public health policy consistency. The IWG proposal is far outside the nutritional mainstream as outlined in the recent Dietary Guidelines,” noted Mr. MacKie.

According to the ABA, the proposal would:

• Ban advertising of numerous foods FDA defines as “healthy.”
• Disallow foods that FDA explicitly authorizes for use in health claims.
• Disallow foods USDA promotes as part of the Dietary Guidelines and WIC Program – including whole grain breads, cereals and tortillas.
• Disallow advertising of nearly all grain food staples in children’s diets including nutritious, fiber-rich whole wheat breads, whole grain cereals and iron, B vitamin and folic acid enriched bread, pasta and rice.

Joining ABA in the comments were: AIB International, Grain Foods Foundation, Grains for Health Foundation, Independent Bakers Association, National Pasta Association, North American Millers’ Association, USA Rice Federation, and Wheat Foods Council.