When Will There be Fruit?

Widespread Deceptive Packaging Found in Children's Foods

Today marks the Strategic Alliance’s release of When Will There be Fruit?: Fruit Content of the Most Highly-Advertised Children’s Food and Beverages. In the one year anniversary follow-up to Prevention Institute's original Where’s the Fruit? study, researchers found that nearly half of the children’s foods that prominently feature fruit on their packaging still contain no fruit at all.

 “The food and beverage industry, left unregulated, has been unable or unwilling to curb its misleading promotions. It is especially disturbing when the ads and packaging are aimed at children, who are vulnerable to colorful marketing,” explains Leslie Mikkelsen, a registered dietician with the Strategic Alliance and lead author of the study.

In the face of a growing chronic disease epidemic, parents struggling to make healthier purchasing decisions face a plethora of misleading advertising and packaging claims.  Strategic Alliance is again calling on the food and beverage industry to make meaningful changes to support healthy eating choices, detailed in a separate report, "Setting the Bar: Actions to Improve Food and Beverage Offerings."

Please visit the When Will There be Fruit? website to access all relevant documents, including:  

• The complete When Will There be Fruit? study
• Setting the Bar: Recommendations for Food and Beverage Industry Action
• Press materials, including a press kit with relevant background material and fact sheets

As Rapid Responders, we encourage you to monitor your local media sources and respond to any coverage of When Will There be Fruit? with Letters to the Editor.  Please contact Linnea Ashley for assistance in writing letters to the editor.  

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environment and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy, California Food Policy Advocates, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Parks and Recreation Society, California Project LEAN, California WIC Association, Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public's Health, Prevention Institute, Samuels & Associates and YMCA of the East Bay.

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. To join or for more information, please visit us on the Web, www.eatbettermovemore.org, or contact Linnea Ashley at 510.444.7738 or linnea@preventioninstitute.org. And even if you're already a member, please forward this message on to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity--from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle, towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility.

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