IDFA on Monday asked the Federal Trade Commission to allow more time for food manufacturers and industry groups to respond to the Interagency Working Group's proposed guidelines for advertising and marketing foods to children and teens. On Tuesday, the FTC responded, saying the IWG had agreed to extend the comment period by 30 days to July 14, 2011.

"Although we had asked for a 45-day extension, the extra month is a welcome extension," said Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs. "As we said in our letter, these are proposed principles that will help guide self-regulation, not proposed regulations, so the public will not be harmed by providing additional time for thoughtful comment."

Released at the end of April, the voluntary guidelines are part of the federal government's efforts to combat rising obesity rates among children. They are intended to help companies self-regulate their advertising efforts and improve the nutritional profile of the foods and beverages marketed to children. (See "Working Group Releases Proposed Guidelines for Marketing to Kids.")

• Read the letter from IDFA here.
• Read FTC's news release here.

For more information, contact Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs, at cfrye@idfa.org.