A number of major candy companies have pledged to not advertise candy or chocolate directly to children under age 12.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), in partnership with the National Confectioners Association (NCA), has announced a new self-regulatory initiative that promotes responsible advertising to children.

Under the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), participating companies agree to not advertise directly to children under age 12. CCAI is modeled after the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), another CBBB-administered self-regulation program.

Six companies that make popular brands of candies are the charter participants of CCAI: Ferrara Candy Co.; Ghirardelli Chocolate Co.; Jelly Belly Candy Co.; Just Born Quality Confections; The Promotion in Motion Cos., Inc.; and R.M. Palmer Co. They have pledged to not engage in confectionery advertising that is primarily directed to children under age 12 or to advertise their candy in school to children from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade. They join six other confectionery companies – American Licorice Co.; Ferrero USA; The Hershey Co.; Mars, Inc.; Mondelez International; and Nestlé – that are CFBAI participants that do not advertise directly to children.

“CCAI follows the same principles as CFBAI, but is designed for small-to-medium size confectionery companies and has fewer administrative requirements than CFBAI,” said Maureen Enright, director of CCAI and deputy director of CFBAI. “All CCAI participants are making the same commitment—to not engage in child-directed advertising. CFBAI will independently monitor compliance and will publish periodic compliance reports, as it does for CFBAI.”

“Better Business Bureau has always felt that smaller companies can be just as much a part of the self-regulatory success story as major corporations,” said Mary Power, president and CEO of CBBB. “This latest initiative is yet another example of how responsible companies can join together to efficiently regulate themselves. We are delighted to build on CFBAI’s success, we appreciate NCA’s partnership on this effort, and we look forward to working with them to grow the program.”

“America’s leading confectionery companies are committed to marketing their products responsibly, and participating in this program further solidifies that commitment,” John Downs, Jr, NCA president and CEO, said. “The candy companies that are members of CCAI and CFBAI make the majority of the candy on store shelves in the U.S.”