Could their mammoth marketing punch tempt children to pester for carrot sticks instead of chips?
“Wash the carrots, eat them from the bottom and discard the top.” This advice, sternly issued by health officials to Manchester primary schools on how to introduce children to the common root vegetable, was much ridiculed last week. But is it so impossible to believe that children might not be au fait with how to consume the UK’s favourite vegetable? The carrot advice was part of a 42m nationwide initiative to put fruit and veg in young stomachs. An undoubtedly serious amount of money, but a raindrop in the deluge of advertising spend aimed at tempting young people to chow down sugary breakfast cereals, chocolate bars and fast food. “It’s David versus Goliath,” says Professor Gerard Hastings, whose recently published report – The Effects of Food Promotion on Children – prompted the Food Standards Agency to consider restricting the advertising of certain brands and slapping health warnings on packaging. Peeling carrots is child’s play, or maybe not While ads for sweets and fizzy drinks
