Fighting with suits over children's health

 One side effect of opening Pandora's box to the food dye industry, is unravelling all of the ways in which the industry gets their way. One way is hiring lobbyists to go to the government, communicate with legislators, write propaganda, send out press releases, and overall just manipulate pieces of the puzzle that may eventually effect their bottom line. They must make a lot of money advertising to children if they will go to such great lengths to deter the bill that may not allow them to anymore. 

To catch you up, dear reader, a bill was introduced almost 10 years ago meant to curb the obesity epidemic. This kind of bill has been in place in Quebec since 1980. 

The lobbying industry squashed the bill, see here:
 Intense Lobbying squashes bill

There are plans to return to the bill, but the industry has taken it under their wing as their pet project, and have written their own version they're hoping to push on legislators. 

See this article by FHCP, Canada's largest food industry lobbying company: 
FHCP's take on regulating

Here are the ways in which this code differs from the Quebec law. 

Feature	Quebec's Model (Consumer Protection Act)	Industry's Voluntary Code
Legal Force	A legally enforceable law with penalties for violations.	A self-regulated, voluntary commitment  with no legal force.
Scope of Ban	A blanket ban on all commercial advertising directed at children under 13.	A limited ban that restricts advertising  only for food and beverages  that exceed specific nutrient  thresholds.
Primary Goal	To protect children from commercial manipulation, regardless of the product.	To manage the advertising of specific "less healthy"  products within the industry.

The industry code, while a step, is a selectively edited version of Quebec’s success story. It adopts the definition of "directed at children" but abandons the most powerful components: the force of law and the universal application.

Furthermore, we do not need to theorize about the effectiveness of a Quebec-style law—we have the proof. Peer-reviewed research, including a landmark study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, has demonstrated that restrictions on fast-food advertising in Quebec resulted in a significant drop in childhood obesity and fast-food consumption. This is not a hypothetical benefit; it is a documented public health outcome.

This is all the proof we need. A voluntary code cannot replicate this success because it is inherently designed to protect industry interests within defined boundaries, not to unconditionally protect children.

I've sent this to the health minister, as a concerned parent. It's all I can do really.