Released: January 19, 2006

Lawsuit to target junk food marketing

Source: By Libby Quaid, Associated Press

Advocacy groups and parents said they will sue the Nickelodeon TV network and cereal-maker Kellogg Co. in an effort to stop junk food marketing to children.

The plaintiffs cite a recent report documenting the influence of marketing on what children eat. Advertisements aimed at kids are mostly for high-calorie, low-nutrition food and drinks, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine.

Sherri Carlson of Wakefield, Mass., said she tries to get her three kids to eat healthy foods.

“But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk food ads,” Carlson said. “We enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals.”

Carlson and another plaintiff, Andrew Leong of Brookline, Mass., spoke at a news conference organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. They said they intend to sue Kellogg and Nickelodeon parent Viacom Inc. in state court in Massachusetts and served the required 30 days’ notice on Wednesday.

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