In my arms. Alberto Garzón As a result of the regulation prepared by the Ministry of Consumption to ban ice cream advertising during children’s hours, ice cream makers are like this…. While the provincial sector thinks that the measure will have devastating effects on sales, with a decrease of around 20 percent, it regrets that the efforts to produce increasingly healthy and low-calorie products are not taken into account in candies. Actually, ice cream makers. they fear the regulations will negatively affect their image.
The ministry is working on a legislative initiative. It tries to regulate the way certain foods with high sugar content and childhood obesity prevalence are advertised on television.. The aim, as Alberto Garzón explained at the time, is to put an end to the advertising self-regulation model that has been in place since 2005, when it was considered not enough to stop the increase in the level of obesity among minors. Therefore, the aim is to indicate the time periods during which such products cannot be advertised, by reference to a list in which ice creams are included.
The industry, which was angered by the possible effects of this initiative, did not escape the attention of the news. Especially in a province like Alicante where production is high and In terms of sales in the region, the turnover is well above 40 million Euros.. This figure rises to 560 million nationwide.
Marco Miquel, president of the National Association of Artisan Ice Cream Producers (Anhcea), which has a business in Dénia, does not hesitate to point out that it will have a strong impact on sales from the outset. about 20% marketing. Even though it is tried to be focused as a precaution against big industry, this rule hurts both the biggest companies and the ice cream shops on the street, which is more important in a city like ours. big weight traditional sector”.
Advertising ban for Miquel «This is a huge exaggeration, because people don’t eat a lot of ice cream to become obese.. In addition, our effort producing increasingly healthier products, eliminating sugars and certain sweeteners and fats, and relying on natural ingredients».
The representative of the ice cream shop also mentions the bad image created by such measures in the sector in which they are applied. “Unless viewed from the context of the election campaign, we don’t understand – he emphasizes -.”
Recognition
Joaquín Lancis, CEO of Grupo Alacant, wants to stay out of the discussion, although he agrees with Marco on the bad image as well as the bad image. Lack of recognition of the industry’s commitment to healthy products. «We make low-fat and sugar-free ice creams, and we also focus on celiac patients. Therefore, it would be consistent not to include such products on the list of those affected by advertising restrictions.”
The measure brings the ministries of consumption and agriculture face to face
The banning of ice cream advertisements for children not only aroused the sector, but also caused a confrontation between the ministries because the Ministries of Consumption and Agriculture blocked the initiative. And the regulations proposed by the department headed by United We Can were supposed to go into effect in 2022, which was not possible because the ministry of socialist Luis Planas is blocking it.
The Ministry of Agriculture argues that there is currently a technical discussion between the two departments, based on the fact that there are alcoholic beverages marketed as non-alcoholic, as well as products that are traditionally sweetened and produced without sugar. refers to a significant portion of ice creams. Planas also defends the economic importance of sectors such as the ice cream parlor, which it believes should be defended because it is a traditional sector of the country.
The ministry of Alberto Garzón emphasizes that the regulations set the advertising restrictions according to the criteria published by the World Health Organization (WHO), which does not accept ice creams as sugary, and their aim is to protect consumers. as vulnerable consumers.