Legislation aimed at restricting food advertising to children is one step closer to becoming law after the Senate social affairs committee approved Bill C-252, a private member’s bill sponsored by Liberal MP Patricia Lattanzio (Saint Léonard-Saint Michel, Que.). Blacklock's Reporter says a final Senate vote will determine its fate.“Our government supports restrictions on food advertising to children to protect them from the risks of chronic diseases caused by an unhealthy diet,” stated a health department briefing note. “Almost one in three children in Canada, including two in three indigenous children, lives with overweight or obesity.”Bill C-252 proposes amendments to the Food and Drugs Act, granting Health Canada the authority to ban television ads targeting children under 13 for foods exceeding prescribed levels of sugar, saturated fats, or sodium. The specific limits would be determined later by cabinet.Lattanzio defended the legislation during earlier debates, criticizing the advertising industry for failing to self-regulate. “Inaction will mean our children will continue to be manipulated by this multi-billion-dollar industry,” she said.Québec has had similar restrictions since 1980 under its Consumer Protection Act, which bans all TV marketing to children. The Supreme Court upheld the law in 1989.However, critics, including the Association of Canadian Advertisers, have voiced concerns about the bill’s potential impact. The Association estimates the ban could cost $956 million annually in lost advertising revenue. It also warned that a significant portion of ads reaching adult audiences would be curtailed.Some MPs have raised issues with the bill’s undefined parameters. Bloc Québécois MP Luc Thériault (Montcalm, Que.) questioned the vagueness of terms like “prescribed levels” of sugar or fat. “Here I am as a legislator sort of handing over all that power,” said Thériault. “What about yoghurt? Fifteen grams of sugar, 18 maybe. Would that be considered acceptable, unacceptable?”Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical advisor with the Department of Health, acknowledged the complexity of such determinations. “When you go into a grocery store, half an entire aisle is yoghurt,” she said. “Some of those might be suitable to be part of children’s regular diet, some of them may be very high in fat, very high in sugar as well.”The bill passed the Commons on October 25, 2023, by a vote of 208 to 115.
