Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Par. 23. (2014)

Text of the recommendation

To address the issue of aggressive marketing, some States have supported self-regulation and have allowed food companies to voluntarily regulate their practices related to marketing and nutritional content of unhealthy foods to children. Companies often voluntarily adopt self-formulated guidelines and standards to restrict Government regulation and respond public demands. They have also taken joint initiatives and formulated guidelines for member companies to restrict advertising and promoting practices with respect to children. However, self-regulation by companies has not had any significant effect on altering food marketing strategies. Due to a variety of reasons, such as the non-binding nature of such self-regulation, lack of benchmarks and transparency, inconsistent definition of children and different nutrition criteria, companies may be able to circumvent guidelines, blunting the intended effect of marketing guidelines they instituted.