Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued subpoenas to 44 food and beverage companies including Coca-Cola Co., McDonald's Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co., seeking information on how they market to children.

The companies have 90 days to respond to the orders, which were sent over the past week, FTC spokeswoman Jackie Dizdul said in an interview today. The information is being collected for an FTC study on advertising of food and drinks to kids, mandated under a federal appropriations bill for the agency.

Other companies that received the subpoenas include PepsiCo Inc., Burger King Holdings Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and General Mills Inc. The FTC's study comes amid increasing rates of childhood obesity. The percentage of overweight youngsters in the U.S. has more than tripled since 1980, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

``We're going to use this to lay out a description of what food-and-beverage marketing looks like nowadays,'' Dizdul said. Similar subpoenas have been issued in the past to companies in the alcohol and tobacco industries, she said.

Coca-Cola will cooperate with the FTC's order, said spokeswoman Diana Garza Ciarlante. The Atlanta-based company has a policy against marketing to children under the age of 12.

Wendy's is reviewing the FTC request, spokesman Bob Bertini said. Burger King representative Keva Silversmith said the restaurant chain will comply. P&G, the maker of Pringles potato chips, will also cooperate, spokeswoman Tami Jones said.

Kraft, which makes Oreo cookies, is cooperating, spokeswoman Elisabeth Wenner said. General Mills also will comply, spokeswoman Kirstie Foster said. Telephone calls to McDonald's weren't immediately returned.

Changes to Marketing

Some of the foodmakers being subpoenaed already are taking steps to mollify legislators concerned about childhood obesity.

McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant company, said Aug. 6 that it's a ``responsible marketer'' after a Stanford University study found it's advertising is so pervasive that preschoolers prefer the taste of chicken, hamburgers and french fries wrapped in McDonald's packaging to the same food in plain packaging.

General Mills, Kraft, PepsiCo and other companies said in July that they will change how they market their foods to children. The companies may also change the size of the servings or makeup of their products to cut calories.

PepsiCo pledged to limit its advertising to just Gatorade sports drinks and Baked Cheetos snacks, and General Mills said it will only market cereals with 12 grams of sugar or less.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo last year agreed to halt almost all soft drink sales in elementary and middle schools after pressure from health advocates. The companies agreed to sell only water, juice, tea and low-calorie drinks in schools under an accord brokered by former President Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association in May 2006. Diet sodas are allowed in high schools.

The FTC subpoenas were reported earlier by Adweek.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net; Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 10, 2007 18:23 EDT