As a direct result of a 7/31/07 FTC action known as "Resolution Directing Use of Compulsory Process to Collect Information for Use in Preparing a Report to Congress Regarding the Marketing of Food and Beverages to Children and Adolescents," 44 manufacturers have been put on notice to return detailed information regarding the nutritional value and marketing tactics of their products. The food categories it's interested in include breakfast cereals, snack foods, candy, dairy products, baked goods, carbonated beverages, fruit juice and other non-carbonated beverages, prepared foods and meals, frozen and chilled desserts, fruits and vegetables and restaurant food.
The list of marketing techniques is even more comprehensive, including money spent on television, radio, print, company and non-company internet locations, movie theaters, product placements, in-school, viral marketing, word of mouth marketing and several others. FTC is especially interested in how much of this marketing is aimed at children. The request gives the companies 90 days to respond. Add in time for the FTC to process all the returned info and put together its report, and it will likely be well into 2008 before Congress sees the results of this effort.
List of companies
Boskovich Farms, Inc.
Burger King Holdings Inc.
Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, Inc.
California Giant
California Milk Advisory Board
California Milk Processor Board
Campbell Soup Company
CEC Entertainment, Inc.
Chiquita Brands International, Inc.
The Coca-Cola Company
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated
Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
ConAgra Foods, Inc.
Dole Food Company, Inc.
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.
General Mills, Inc.
Grimmway Enterprises Inc.
Hansen Natural Corporation
The Hershey Company
Imagination Farms, LLC
International Dairy Foods Association
Interstate Bakeries Corporation
J.W. Childs Associates, L.P.
Kellogg Company
Kraft Foods Inc.
LGS Specialty Sales Ltd.
Mars, Incorporated
McDonald's Corporation
McKee Foods Corporation
Nestle USA, Inc.
PepsiAmericas, Inc.
PepsiCo, Inc.
The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc.
The Procter & Gamble Company
Ready Pac Produce, Inc.
Red Bull North America, Inc.
Rockstar Inc.
Stemilt Growers, Inc.
Summeripe Worldwide Inc.
Sunkist Growers, Inc.
The Topps Company, Inc.
Unilever/Unilever United States Inc.
Wendy's International, Inc.
YUM! Brands, Inc.
