Food Commission welcomes BBC promise to cease Tweenies abuse

5th April 2004

The Food Commission, the UK’s leading independent food watchdog, welcomes BBC Worldwide’s announcement that they will introduce nutrition standards when licensing their Tweenies, Fimbles, Bill & Ben and Teletubbies characters to food manufacturers.

‘For over two years we have urged the BBC to take children’s health seriously when allowing their popular characters to be used to sell sweets, snacks, puddings and processed meals to children,’ said Food Commission director Tim Lobstein.

‘Our 1700-strong Parents Jury has kept up the pressure, and the BBC’s own survey of parents proved our point: companies should be fully accountable for their marketing tactics and hence accountable for what children pester their parents to buy. We hope to see other character licensing agencies follow the BBC’s lead voluntarily, or they may find themselves forced to change by regulation.’

Last summer the Food Commission and Parents Jury analysed foods being promoted with BBC children’s characters and found them seriously wanting. Full details are shown on the Parents Jury website.