Recommendations from a Pan American Health Organization Expert Consultation on the Marketing of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children in the Americas (2011)

In May 2010, the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a Set of Recommendations on the Marketing of Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages to Children (“WHO Set of Recommendations”). The purpose of the recommendations is “to guide efforts by Member States in designing new and/or strengthening existing policies on food marketing communications to children.” The WHO Set of Recommendations consists of general principles that require additional guidance in order to be applied as concrete policies in national contexts. Recommendation 8 specifically states that “Member States should cooperate” in developing policies to “reduce the impact of cross-border marketing.”

Following this recommendation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) formed an Expert Consultation Group to develop more concrete recommendations for the Americas. This group, comprising government officials, consumer advocates, and experts, met on 12–13 May 2011 in Washington, DC, to develop its recommendations. The discussion was based on a Working Paper prepared for this purpose.