About the Initiative
 The Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (Children's Advertising Initiative) is a voluntary initiative by 16 of Canada’s leading food and beverage companies (Participants). In April 2007, Participants announced their collaborative commitment to use their creativity and marketing activities to promote and support healthy dietary choices and healthy lifestyles to children under 12 years of age.

Through the Children's Advertising Initiative, Participants will shift their advertising and marketing emphasis to foods and beverages that are consistent with the principles of sound nutrition guidance, including those that are lower in total calories, fats, salts and added sugars, and higher in nutrients that are significant to public health.

To ensure that this program is both transparent and accountable, Participants asked Advertising Standards Canada, the industry’s independent self-regulatory body, to administer the Children's Advertising Initiative.

Core Principles
Under the Children's Advertising Initiative, Participants have committed to:
  • devote at least 50 per cent of their television, radio, print and Internet advertising directed primarily to children under 12 years of age to promote products that represent healthy dietary choices and/or to include healthy lifestyle messages,
  • incorporate only products that represent healthy dietary choices or include healthy lifestyle messages in interactive games primarily directed to children under 12 years of age,
  • reduce the use of third party licensed characters in advertising directed primarily to children under 12 that does not meet the Children's Advertising Initiative criteria for healthy dietary products or healthy lifestyle messaging,
  • not pay for or actively seek to place food and beverage products in program/editorial content of any medium primarily directed to children, and
  • not advertise food or beverage products in elementary schools.
Under the terms of the Children's Advertising Initiative each Participant has developed an individual Commitment outlining how it will meet the Initiative's core principles.

As the Children's Advertising Initiative administrator, ASC will:
  • approve each Participant’s Commitment
  • publish the Commitments on a dedicated section of ASC’s website
  • conduct an annual audit of each Participant’s compliance with its Commitment
  • report publicly on the results of the audits
  • respond to public inquires about the Chldren's Advertising Initiative
Charter Participants
• Cadbury Adams Canada Inc.
• Campbell Company of Canada
• Coca-Cola Canada
• General Mills Canada Corporation
• Hershey Canada Inc.
• Janes Family Foods Ltd.
• Kellogg Canada Inc.
• Kraft Canada Inc.
• Mars Canada Inc.
• McCain Foods Canada
• McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Ltd.
• Nestlé Canada Inc.
• Parmalat Canada Inc.
• PepsiCo Canada
• Unilever Canada Inc.
• Weston Bakeries Limited

To view the Participants’ Commitments click here.


• Participant Commitments
• Media releases and announcements
• Self-regulation of children’s advertising
• Association partners
• Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative – Reference document
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