National self-regulatory body, Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) has revealed that a number retailers and manufacturers including Kraft, McDonald's, Kellogg and Nestle have committed to adhere to guidelines restricting how their products can be promoted.

The pledges follow the launch in April last year of the country's Children's Advertising Initiative, which saw 16 food and drink manufacturers agreeing to amend their advertising to children under 12 that promoted healthy dieting and lifestyle choices.

This follows similar schemes from advertising bodies in the UK and US designed to curb concerns over the level of influence that manufacturers of high fat and sugar products have previously had on kids.

Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement said that Canada too needed a drastic solution in how food and beverages and the overall all issue of diet was being covered in televised, print and online advertising

"To have received the 2004 statistic that childhood obesity rates had tripled over the past twenty five years was just appalling to me," he stated. "Clearly it's time for a new way of thinking and acting, and I commend responsible industry members who are preparing to help tackle this issue."

ASC president Linda Nagel claimed that although Canada already has a "rigourous" framework in place for the regulation of children's advertising, the new initiative further strengthened these rules with a number of new measures.

"The system includes pre-clearance of all children's commercials, a strict code of advertising standards and a robust consumer complaint mechanism," she stated. "As the Children's Advertising Initiative administrator, ASC will audit their compliance and publish annual reports on the results."

In Committing to the intuitive, the ASC said that a number of groups had agreed to follow various rules:

· One grouping of companies said that 100 per cent of its total advertising would focus on encouraging children to make healthy dietary choices in line with scientific or government nutrition standards. This group includes the Campbell Company of Canada, General Mills Canada, Kellogg Canada, Kraft Canada, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, Nestlé Canada Inc, Parmalat Canada, and Weston Bakeries.

· Another group agreed that they would not have any advertising targeted at children under twelve. These companies include Cadbury Adams Canada, Coca-Cola Canada, Hershey Canada, Janes Family Foods, Mars Canada, McCain Foods Canada, PepsiCo Canada, and Unilever Canada will not direct advertising to children under 12.

All participating groups in the initiative also agreed to incorporate products considered to be a healthier dietary option in their online games and other similar promotional materials to children under 12 years of age.

The use of third party licenses regarding popular characters on food and drinks would also be restricted to healthier products for the company's involved, the ASC added.