FCC's TV/Child Obesity Task Force Adds Members, Sets Valentine's Day Meeting [1]
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum [2] on
The Federal Communications Commission [3] has added junk food marketing critic Sen. Tom Harkin [4] (D-IA), the Benton Foundation [5] (an FCC watchdog), and several academic groups to a list of mostly industry advocates on an FCC task force slated to consider limits on marketing food and beverage products to children. Sen. Sam Brownback [6] (R-Kan), who has taken credit for creating the task force, issued a statement calling it "a bipartisan effort to provide a forum for the public and private sectors to examine the impact of media and on childhood obesity." Brownback's mantra is that any restrictions must be voluntary. He initially excluded [7] Sen. Harkin from deliberations over creating the task force. The first meeting of the task force has been announced for Valentine's Day. The task force press release [8] is mum on whether sweets will be available at the table.