European Snacks Association pledges to change advertising to children

European Snacks Association pledges to change advertising to children
April 29, 2010

The European Snack Association (ESA) joins the EU pledge initiative.

The EU Pledge is a commitment by leading food and beverage companies in Europe to change food and beverage advertising on TV, print and internet to children under the age of 12 in the European Union.


These voluntary measures are made by food and beverage companies to the European Commission’s Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in support of parental efforts to promote healthy lifestyles.

The European Snacks Association (ESA) has decided to endorse the EU Pledge commitments in order to help promote healthier snacking choices and balanced lifestyles among children. Thus, ESA will have associate membership status with the EU Pledge group.

The following member companies have signed the ESA Pledge agreement and will submit themselves to the common monitoring programme rolled out by the EU Pledge group:

  • InterSnack
  • Lorenz Snack World
  • Procter and Gamble
  • Unichips - San Carlo
  • Zweifel Pomy-Chip

Two ESA member companies, LU Snack Foods (Kraft) and PepsiCo, are already members of the EU Pledge Group. These companies represent the bulk of advertising expenditure in the European savoury snacks market. ESA will encourage all its members to commit to the EU Pledge in due course.

The ESA pledge signatories will publish their specific advertising commitments during the course of 2010 on the ESA website, the EU Pledge website and on companies’ own corporate websites. They will implement their commitments no later than 31 December 2010. In case of mergers or acquisitions, an adequate transition period will be allowed for the implementation of measures taken under the pledge.