Companies such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola are getting round a television ban on advertising junk food to children by targeting them on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, writes Abul Taher.

A study by Which?, the consumer group, to be published this week, found that Mars, Pizza Hut and PepsiCo are also using the two networking sites as well as YouTube, their video-sharing counterpart, to advertise to children. In January, Ofcom, the communications regulator, banned snack food manufacturers from advertising to children on television.

A poll for Which? showed that 84% of adults wanted measures to stop children being targeted by junk food advertisers on the internet.

Research for the Which? report by Nielsen Online found that the top 20 websites on which junk food companies advertised were among the most popular with children.

YouTube came out as the top site for four- to 15-year-olds, with Facebook, MySpace and Bebo other strong favourites. Advertisers either post banner ads on social networking sites or set up pages that allow children to join and become fans or “friends”. They then receive e-mails and text messages about promotions and new products. Mars has a MySpace page, which includes a radio station that allows listeners to win a month’s supply of chocolate.

Michael Lean, a professor of nutrition at Glasgow University, said: “The government has done a half-baked job of restricting the advertisements to children because they have not closed all the loopholes.”

The health minister Dawn Primarolo said: “There are now fewer ads on TV tempting our children into bad eating habits but we must continue to keep our eye on other types of media. The industry must play its part in reducing the exposure children have to the promotion of food high in fat, salt or sugar.”

The Food and Drink Federation, which represents major companies, said it was sceptical, noting internet advertising was less popular than television.

PepsiCo declined to comment. Coca-Cola said it did not target under-16s. Mars and Nestlé said they used Facebook and MySpace because they had age limits of 13 and 14.

Additional reporting: Stephen Jenner

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