Hungry Jack's breached a children's food advertising code nearly three times more than the previous year, prompting public health advocates to slam the code as ineffective.
The burger giant violated the "Quick Service Restaurant Initiative" code, designed to cut junk food advertising to children, 245 times during a three-month period in 2014, compared with 93 times the previous year, an Australian Food and Grocery Council report shows.
The other six signatories of the self-regulatory code, which includes McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut, each reduced the number of breaches by an average of 70 per cent.
In the opening lines of the report, the AFGC trumpeted the efficacy of the code, developed in 2009, saying compliance was "very high" at 99.5 per cent.
But Clare Hughes, nutrition program manager at the Cancer Council NSW, said the seemingly impressive rate was deceiving as the code defined "children's programs" as ones with an audience comprising 35 per cent or more of children.
The report showed Hungry Jack's chicken nuggets advertisement was broadcast 62 times in "children's programs" during the audit period, representing 2.7 per cent of total screenings.
Ms Hughes said the latest children's television research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority showed the finales of The Block, The X Factor and The Voice in 2013 each pulled on average 330,000 viewers under 14 years of age.
She said therefore it was very likely the offending advertisement was watched by hundreds of thousands of children several times over, influencing their food choices and contributing to Australia's overweight and obesity issues.
"The report says 2.7 per cent of the screenings were in breach. But the total 2296 screenings for the general audience were also watched by hundreds of thousands of children," she said.
Ms Hughes said the code should be mandatory, independently monitored and strengthened with harsh penalties. She said research showed it had failed to reduce the frequency of unhealthy food advertisements.
"We feel this industry, self-regulation is full of loopholes and limitations that is designed to ensure companies' bottom lines aren't affected too much, by restricting their ability to advertise in programs that are popular with children," she said.
The report shows Hungry Jack's breached the code 39 times with its chicken burger advertisement, 41 times with its omelette muffin advertisement, and 39 times with its summer range advertisement.
In the report, Hungry Jack's blamed the networks, saying the bulk of the breaches occurred during movies popular with children that were scheduled last minute.
"There is also instances where networks run 'bonus' spots during these programs without Hungry Jack's permission," its statement in the report said.
"Hungry Jack's continues to work closely with its agencies and networks to improve the monitoring of all bookings, and has implemented processes that are overseen by senior team members to ensure that they are being followed."
Julie Flynn, chief executive of industry body Free TV Australia, said she had received no complaints in relation to its conduct under the Children's Television Standards and the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.
"We continue to work closely with all advertisers to ensure that placement is appropriate. The high compliance figures indicate that this is generally working well," she said.
An Australian Food and Grocery Council spokesman said the group was striving to reach total compliance and that there had been a steady reduction of breaches.
He said the AFGC was confident issues with the networks were being addressed.
"Industry believes it has a responsibility in advertising healthier food choices and active lifestyles when children watch TV alone, without supervision," he said.
"It is internationally recognised children's programs are defined as having an audience of more than 35 per cent children. Ultimately it is parents who are best placed and capable of making decisions about which food choices are best for their families."
KFC breached the code 56 times in the audit period in 2014, down from 61 times the previous year, and Mcdonald's breached the code 29 times, down from 101 times.
Hungry Jack's did not respond to Fairfax Media's repeated requests for comment.
