NEW YORK – Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are planning to include food-advertising restrictions within the federal tax code, Adweek reports.

Citing "the epidemic of childhood obesity, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced a that would eliminate the ability for companies to claim a tax deduction for marketing “unhealthy food products to children.”

"Taxpayers should not continue to subsidize a tax loophole that allows companies to deduct expenses for marketing unhealthy foods to kids," DeLauro said. Her bill has four supporters since it’s introduction on July 25.

The bill relies on definitions of “food of poor nutritional quality” as determined by Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission.

"The tricky thing is that [federal] dietary guidelines exist, but they aren't food specific. They set out general guidelines for consumption of sugar, or salt, for example, so the agencies would have to figure out if a particular food product meets the guidelines," said Dan Jaffe, executive vice president for the Association of National Advertisers.

The bill could find favor in the Democratic-controlled Senate where Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Commerce Committee, said last month that he supported eliminating the tax deduction companies use “to market junk food to kids.”

Jaffe told the news source that advertisers could expect for more action aimed at chipping away at the ad tax deduction.

"There is more focus on a tax rewrite than there has been for a long time. No one knows where this is going or whether tax reform is going to take off," Jaffe said. "This [bill] opens a Pandora’s box. The day you take away the deduction for one category, there will be a multitude of other things attacked as well."