The London 2012 chief, Paul Deighton, today defended the event's £20m-plus sponsorship deal with Cadbury, as the confectionery maker pledged to market its Olympic association to children responsibly.
Cadbury was today officially confirmed as a "tier two" supporter, a level that costs sponsors between £20m and £40m, to be the sole supplier of chocolate and ice cream at the London 2012 Olympics.
In light of the growing UK childhood obesity problem, some have questioned whether Cadbury, which will be permitted to use the London games as part of future marketing campaigns, should be involved in such a high-profile event.
However, Deighton, the chief executive of London 2012, defended the move.
"Previous games have had chocolate and confectionery suppliers, and like most sporting events confectionery is available to buy at Olympic games, that is where we started," he said.
"[Cadbury] became a tier two deal meaning that [it] is helping to underwrite the staging of the world's biggest sporting events in this country in 2012."
Cadbury was heavily criticised five years ago for its Get Active! campaign because it encouraged children to eat chocolate to collect vouchers that could be redeemed for sports equipment for schools.
Todd Stitzer, the chief executive of Cadbury, said that the company would not introduce any voucher collection schemes or chocolate giveaways in its London 2012 sponsorship.
Instead, Cadbury will focus on youth sport and volunteer community engagement with messages based on how a "treat" is part of an overall responsible diet.
"It is entirely appropriate that the biggest sports event that Britain has seen is supplied with British confectionery," said a spokesman for Cadbury UK. "It would be odd … to find only chocolate from foreign companies at the venue."
He added that the company's ability to reach millions of people every day, through the ubiquitous distribution of its products, provided "a great way to spread the goodwill and spirit of the games".
Cadbury has a track record of supporting major sporting events, including the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and Melbourne in 2006.
Signing Cadbury means that London 2012 organisers have raised £430m of the £650m target for sponsorship fundraising from domestic sponsors.
London 2012 has signed up seven tier-one domestic partners, paying from £40m each, namely Adidas, British Airways, BP, BT, EDF Energy, Lloyds TSB and Nortel.
Cadbury joins Deloitte, the professional services supporter, as a tier-two sponsor.
Global partners include McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Samsung.
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