10 Kid-Targeted Junk Foods

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Influencing kids’ tastes

Food and beverage companies in the U.S. spend more than $1.6 billion each year to attract children’s attention. Much of that money goes to licensing fees that allow the companies to put popular TV and movie characters on their packages.

These characters—such as the lovable ogre Shrek, shown at left—have proven adept at selling food to kids (and their parents). This worries some health experts, in large part because licensed characters appear most often on junk food.

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