• Eighteen companies voluntarily participating in the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB’s) Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) have updated the group’s 2011 Uniform Nutrition Criteria for foods and beverages advertised to children under 12.  Participants in the CFBAI include leading quick service restaurants, confectionery manufacturers, processed food companies, and ingredient manufacturers.
  • CFBAI members have committed since 2011 to advertising to children under 12 only those foods that meet the group’s Uniform Nutrition Criteria.  According to its 2018 White Paper, the group has developed stricter requirements (as compared to the 2011 criteria) for a number of nutrients, including sodium and added sugar.  For example, under the new criteria, fruits and vegetables that were previously exempt will need to meet “no added sugar” and “very low sodium” requirements when in canned or frozen form.  In addition, the limit on sodium in savory snacks is decreasing from 290 mg to 260 mg per serving .
  • CFBAI estimates that 40% of the products that met its 2011 Uniform Nutrition Criteria will not meet the new criteria, which were revised following the release of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and FDA’s updated Nutrition Facts regulations.   The new Uniform Nutrition Criteria are summarized here.  The implementation date is set for January 1, 2020, which is also the compliance date for FDA’s new Nutrition Facts and serving size regulations.