As of December 31, 2015, new nutrition criteria for evaluating 'better for you' foods will apply to participants in the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI), a voluntary program for Canadian food manufacturers and advertisers administered by Advertising Standards Canada (ASC). CAI participants will now use the uniform criteria to determine which foods may be advertised to children under 12. The criteria organize food into eight categories, within which certain nutritional requirements and limits must be met in order to be considered "better for you." Note that these requirements are outside of the general prohibition against advertising to children in Quebec.
Where products do not comply with these criteria, CAI participants must either stop advertising to children or reformulate. ASC estimates that about 35% of products that are currently advertised to children in Canada will be affected, so watch for updated ad strategies and/or product formulations over the next year.
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