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The Rochester Institute of Technology

Department of Communication

Risks of Foods Marketed to Children; Effects of Food Coloring,

High Sugar, Saturated Fat, and Salt on Children’s Health

By

Sarah Angela Jevons

A Paper submitted In partial fulfillment of the Master (Bachelor) of Science degree

In Communication & Media Technologies (Professional & Technical Communication/Advertising & Public Relation)

Degree Awarded: Spring Quarter, 2013

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The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Sarah Jevons Presented

on May 3rd

2013.

____________________________

Dr. Tracy Worrell Professor Directing Thesis

____________________________ Professor Xiao Wang

Thesis Advisor

____________________________ Dr. Patrick Scanlon

Department Chair

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Dedication

I would like to dedicate this Senior Thesis to my Niece

Kaia Magnolia Jevons

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Abbreviations

ADHA: Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder

BMI: Body Mass Index

CDC: The Center of Disease Control and Prevention

FAC: Food Advisory Committee

FCC: Federal Communications Commotion

FD&C: Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics

FTC: Federal Trade Commission

GRAS: Generally Regarded as Safe

IOM: Institute of Medicine

NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

NIH: National Institutes of Health

RIT: Rochester Institute of Technology

US FDA: United States Food and Drug Administration

TVY7: Directed to older children

TVY7: Directed to older children Fantasy Violence

TVG: General audience

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Foods Marketed to Children; Effects of Food Coloring, High

Sugar, Saturated Fat, and Salt on Children’s Health This study looks at the types of foods that are advertised and marketed to children

during cartoon programming at different peak times of viewership. It provides a

look at the influence this advertising has on the dietary choices of children and the

resulting health implications these foods cause. These foods are typically high in

synthetic food coloring, sugar, saturated fat, and salt. Content for this study derived

from the advertising that was run during the top five television programs on

Cartoon Network. Show viewer ratings varied from TVG, TVPG, TVY7FV. The five

most frequent food ads were evaluated on nutritional content and the presents of

synthetic dyes. Results show that all foods advertised were low in nutritional

content. Three out of five contained synthetic food colors and were high in sugar.

Two out of five had both high saturated fat and salt (sodium) content.

Introduction:

Foods marketed to children are among the most unhealthy advertised in any market

and include synthetic food coloring, high concentrations of sugar, saturated fat, and

salt according to the Prevention Institute(2013). These have all been linked to an

array of health problems among children. Health problems can range from

headaches and allergic reactions, to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),

obesity, diabetes and cancer. According to the Prevention Institute (2013), children

are exposed to over ten food related ads every day, an average of 4,000 per year by

an industry that spends more than $5 million everyday marketing foods that 98% of

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are unhealthy, nutritionally insufficient and influence children’s diet and food

choices. Prevention Institute (2013). A majority of these foods contain synthetic

colors that have been linked to some cancers, behavioral changes, ADHD,

hypersensitivity, restlessness, irritability, and sleep disturbance. (Kobylewski,

Jacoboson 2010), (Phillips 2013), (Norqvist 2010). The FDA (2013) allows the use of

Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 or FD&C Yellow No.5, and

Yellow No.6. According to the Federal Trade Commission (2012) the use of synthetic

dyes in the U.S. have increased 500% in the past 50 years [FDA]* (See Appendix 3)

with the majority share present in food and beverages marketed to

children/adolescents. The FDA (2013) calls foods made with synthetic coloring

“fun” foods. Although causation cannot be singularly defined, could this possibly be

contributing to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (2010) statistics of

increasingly large numbers of parent-reported ADHD? They have found that parent-

reported ADHD has increased by 22% from 2003 to 2007 and the ADHD diagnosis’

increased on average by 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 and 5.5% per year from

2003 to 2007. May this also help explain cancer being the leading cause of death

among children in the U.S. and the obesity rates among all children in the United

States? National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2008), have

approximated that 17% or 12.5 million children ages 2-19 are obese. Nearly tripling

the amount reported in 1980.(CDC, 2010), (Warren, Wicks, J., Wicks, R. H., Fosu,

Donghung, 2007). *(See Appendix 1) At this same time high sugar drinks and snack

also nearly tripled.(A. A. Hedley, C. L. Ogden, C. L Johnson, M. D. Carroll, L. R. Curtin,

K. M. Flegal 2004). Additionally, obesity was ranked number two in unnecessary

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death and diabetes was ranked number 7 for leading cause of death (CDC 2010). In

the National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011, During 2002–2005, 15,600 youth were newly

diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Annually, 3,600 youth were newly diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes annually. For youth aged 10 years or less, the rate of new cases was

19.7 per 100,000 each year for type 1 diabetes and 0.4 per 100,000 for type 2

diabetes. For youth aged 10 years or older, the rate of new cases was 18.6 per

100,000 each year for type 1 diabetes and 8.5 per 100,000 for type 2 diabetes.* (See

Appendix 2) Studies have shown that children exposed to food advertising while

watching programming does in fact influence their decision in choosing the type of

food they eat and negatively effects their nutrition beliefs. This is compounded with

the amount of TV/ads they are exposed to. (B. S Greenberg, S. F. Rosaen, T. R.

Worrell, C. T. Salmon, J. E. Volkman 2009) , (R. Warren J. Wicks, R.H. Wicks, I. Fosu,

Donghung, 2007),(E. L. Palmer C.F. Carpenter 2006).With children being exposed to

more media daily, it is important to understand what types of food and there

content, that are being advertised to children and the influence that advertising has

on their dietary choices, and how those choices impact their health.

Research Questions:

1. What are the types of food that are being advertised to children throughout the programming on Cartoon Network? � Johnny Test � Looney Tunes � Amazing World of Gumball � Adventure Time � Regular Show

2. What are the 5 most shown ads?

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3. What percent of commercials were food products? 4. Did any of the most shown ads include any health claims? 4. Where there any ads promoting healthy foods and snacks? Ie. Fruits, vegetables? 5. What is the nutritional content (sugar, sodium, trans fat) of the product and what synthetic food colorings are used? Is there any significant sources of vitamins or minerals?

Literature Review:

A study conducted by Gerald, Gorn and Goldberg, (1982) found that children

who viewed morning cartoons with candy and Kool Aid commercials consumed

substantially more candy and sugary drinks than that of their peers who viewed

fruit and orange juice ads in their morning cartoons. Gorn and Goldberg found

advertising was effective in influencing the children’s choices of healthy and

unhealthy snacks. So what is being advertised to them?

Food and beverage advertisements shown during children’s programming

have been shown to substantially promote processed packaged foods, soft drinks,

snack foods, and other junk foods over healthy options.(P. Ueda L. Tong, C. Viedma,

S.J. Chandy, G. Marrone, A. Simon, Lundborg 2012). They found that 80% of 3-13

year-old children consumed cookies, 38% consumed chips, 52% consumed

chocolate/sweets, and 24% drank soft drinks at least once a day. Children that had

more ad and/brand exposure had higher rates of unhealthy food consumption. This

is also reflected in the findings of Greenberg, Rosaen, Worrell, Salmon, Volkman

(2009) which found that children’s programs were five times more likely to contain

unhealthy foods than in adult programming. The IOM (Institute of Medicine) and

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the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reported direct evidence that

marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods influence children’s diets,

consumption behavior and overall nutritional intake.( R. Warren, J. Wicks, R. H.

Wicks, I. Fosu, C. Donghung, 2007), (E. L. Palmer, C.F Carpenter 2006). The health

effects caused by the consumption on the food and beverages being advertised to

children has been proven to be harmful enough for the FTC to draw a parallel to the

“Cigarette Rule” in 1964 and that all three criteria were met in relation to this

matter, meaning that the practice of food and beverage advertised to children

“offends public policy” that it is within “at least the penumbra of some common-law,

statutory, or other established concept of unfairness…” and that “it causes substantial

injury to consumers.” (E. L. Palmer, C.F Carpenter 2006). Is it time to take a harder

look at what is in the food being advertised to children?

Substantial studies have been done that link synthetic food coloring to

hypersensitivity (allergic reactions), ADHD (in both children with and without the

disorder), restlessness, sleep disruption, irritability, aggression and even asthma in

children.(Kobylewski, Jacobson 2010),(B. Weiss 2012),( A. Downham, & P.Collins

2000)( L. Stevens, T. Kuczek, , J. Burgess M. Stochelski, L. Arnold, & L. Galland 2013).

To a lesser extent Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 or FD&C

Yellow No.5, and Yellow No.6 have been linked to caused tumors in both mice and

rats including bladder, thyroid, adrenal and testicular tumors.(Kobylewski, Jacobson

2010). Amounts or dosages of synthetic dyes used in studies varied from 20mg-

100mg which fall both below and above the estimated average of 64mg in the

U.S.(Kobylewski, Jacobson 2010),(A. Downham, & P. Collins 2000). Rowe and Rowe

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(1994) looked at the effects of Tartrazine (Yellow 5/FD&C Yellow 5) on children

their study showed a clear dose-response reaction and rate that increased with does

increase. Adverse effects included irritability, fidgetiness, aggression and sleep

problems, however not necessarily symptoms of ADHD. These studies have been

able to identify a group of children that experience substantial/server adverse

reactions the to synthetic dyes. (B. Weiss 2012),( L. Stevens, T. Kuczek, , J. Burgess

M. Stochelski, L. Arnold, & L. Galland 2013)( C. Randolph 1995). The University of

Southampton in the United Kingdom (McCann et. Al 2007) conducted the largest

double bind study with 300 preschool and elementary school children. They tested a

mix of synthetic dyes, results showed statistically significant adverse reactions

which varied among the children and dye colors. Synthetic color studies to date

however have not tested all seven synthetic coloring individually and have not

extensively studied all types of adverse reactions reported throughout the

collective. On the other hand, why risk any possible adverse reactions when

synthetic colors serve no nutritional or safety benefits, especially when natural color

additives without adverse reactions are available? Although it may be unclear the

extent to which synthetic coloring effects children, it is clear synthetic colors cause a

variety of health problems among children who already face other health problems

caused by the foods being advertised to them.

Methods:

The top five programs on Cartoon Network were viewed to analysis the advertising

content that played during those shows. These shows were chosen based on the

number of times they were aired in relation to the others according the Cartoon

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Network online TV schedule. They have been identified as: Johnny Test, Looney

Tunes, Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure time, and the Regular Show with

program ratings of TVPG, TVY7FV, and TVG. These shows were viewed in varying

time slots from 9:30am-8:30pm in order to cover the most prevalent times children

view television, and the different types of rated television programming they are

exposed too. Food and beverage advertisements run during these five programs

were reviewed through content analysis pertaining to their ingredients and

nutritional content. Each program had a run time of 30 minutes, with 30 minutes of

commercial breaks per program. This added to a total of 5hrs or 300 minutes of

television. Making 2.5 hours or 150 minutes of ads. All advertisements shown were

recorded and tallied starting from the first commercial break after the opening

credits of each programs till the end of the closing credits After viewing the

advertisements run during the 5 different programs, the 5 most frequently run ads

for food and/or beverages were analyzed. *Please see (Appendix 4)

Analysis:

There was a of a total of 99 advertisements viewed. Most advertisements were for

other programming run on the station or were a call to visit the Cartoon Network

website and were longer then the standard 15 to 30 seconds ads. Twenty of them

were for food, two were for beverages, Sunny D, and Capri Sun. 78% of all ads were

non-food related, leaving 22% as food/beverage ads, none of which were ads for

healthy food or snack options such as fruits, vegetables, or contain a significant

source of nutritional value. The top five ads were:

� Ring Pop Gummies- Topps Company Inc.

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� Chef Boyardee Mini’s (Beef)- ConAgra Foods

� Goldfish (Cheddar)- Pepperidge Farms

� Bazooka Joe Gum Dual Pack (Original and Blue Raz)- Topps Company Inc.

� Tootsie Pops- Tootsie Roll Industries

All of the other food advertisements not included in the nutritional analysis were

fast food or junk/snack foods. Including Wendy’s Frosty, McDonalds Happy Meal,

Kellogg’s Krave Chocolate Cereal, and Push Up Pops. These were not included in the

nutritional analysis because they were not one of the 5 most frequently shown ads.

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Nutritional and Synthetic food coloring content of the top five food

advertisements:

Ring Pop Gummies:Serving size 5 -40g(3.5 per bag)

Total Fat: 0g

Saturated: 0g

Sodium: 0mg

Sugars: 19g

Colors: Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1

First 3 ingredents: Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Water

No Vitamins or Minirals

Chef Boyardee Mini's (Beef) Serving size 1

Total Fat: 6g

Saturated Fat: 2.5g -13% DV

Sodium: 350mg- 31% DV

Sugars: 5g

Colors: None

First 3 ingredents: Tomatoe puree water, water, Enriched Wheat Flour

Vitamins or Minerals: A 4%, Calcinm 2%, Iron 10%

Bazooka Joe Gum Serving size 1 piece- 6.0g(12 per bag)

Total Fat::0g

Saturated Fat:0g

Sodium: 0mg

Sugars: 4g

Colors: Red 40 Lake, Red 40, Blue 1

First 3 ingredents: Sugar, Gum base, Glucose syrup

No Vitamins or Minirals

Tootsie Pops: Serving size 1-17g(17 per bag)

Total Fat: 0g

Saturated Fat: 0g

Soduim: 0g

Sugars: 10g

First 3 ingredents: Sugar, Corn Syrup,Partially Hydrgenated soy bean oil

Colors: FD&C Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1

No Vitamins or Minirals

Goldfish: Serving size 55-30g

Total fat:5g

Saturated Fat:1g

Soduium: 250mg

Sugars: less than 1

Colors: None

First 3 ingredents:Unbleached enriched wheat flour, B2, B1

Vitamins or Minerals: Calcium 4% Iron 2%

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While none of the foods advertised had a high fat or saturated fat content based on a

2,000 calorie day diet all had little to no significant nutritional value as well. 3 out of the

5 had sugar listed as the first ingredient which means it makes up the majority of the

product. These were Ring Pop gummies, Bazooka Joe Gum and Tootsie pops. The same

3 out of 5 also had synthetic colors and all three contained the same 3 synthetic colors,

Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue1. Ring pop gummies had the highest amount of sugars with

19g, Tootsie pops were second with 10g and Chef Boyardee came in third with 5g.

Goldfish Cheddar crackers is the “healthiest” option.

Discussion:

Although food ads made up only 22% of the advertising during the top five TV shows, all

of the 22% were for junk/ fast food or candy.

Limitations:

Due to a small time frame and available resource only a small amount of advertising

was viewed for analysis as well as a small amount of nutritional information and the

of other ingredients and additives that may contribute to the health problems

discussed.

Future Research:

An analysis of a larger amount of advertising on different channels, networks, at

different times, in different time zones and on different types of children’s

programs, (not just cartoons) would yield more concise and holistic results in any

future research in this area. I would also like to look at the effects of GMO’s

(genetically modified organisms), pesticides, synthetic sugars and preservatives

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that’s were not included in the scope of this paper and would be of added value in

the evaluation of food and beverages advertised to children in the future.

Additionally, a content analysis of the television advertising itself, as well as a

content analysis of the characters eating habits on the programs being viewed by

children would be of interest, as well as advertising in and throughout different

media platforms.

Appendix 1: Obesity Rates among U.S. Children and Adolescents 1963-2008

From the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (15)

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Appendix 2: New diagnosed cases of Diabetes among Children and Adolescents

2002-2005

From the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (14)

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Appendix 3: The amount of Synthetic Food Coloring (in Mgs.) Consumed per

day per capita in the US from 1950 to 2010

Appendix 4: The Number of Advertisements Run During the Top Five Programs

of Both Food/Beverage and Other

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24%

76%

Ads During Johnny Test

Food/Beverage Ads

Other Ads

22%

78%

Ads During Looney Tunes

Food/Beverage Ads

Other Ads

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28%

72%

Ads During Amazing World of

Gumball

Food/Beverage Ads

Other Ads

20

32%

68%

Ads During Adventure Time

Food/Beverage Ads

Other Ads

28%

72%

Ads During The Regular Show

Food/Beverage Ads

Other Ads

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