Sugar strategy watered down – report
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- Published: Friday, 15 July 2016 08:51
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The fight against child obesity has been left in the hands of food companies in a watering down of ministers’ promises after lobbying by the industry, according to a report in The Times, which claims to have seen a draft of the strategy. Manufacturers will not be forced to make products healthier and no concrete measures to curb marketing of unhealthy products have been included.
In addition, a ban on junk food at shop checkouts has been dropped and an end to advertisements for unhealthy food before the 9pm watershed has not been included in leaked drafts seen by The Times. The paper says that Jeremy Hunt, who kept his job as health secretary yesterday, faces a battle with his new cabinet colleagues to “put the teeth back” in the plan, which was due to be published next week after wrangling between the culture and business departments as well as No 10.
The documents show how pledges of strict action were removed from the strategy amid industry pressure and the distraction of the EU referendum. Companies will now simply be “challenged” and “consulted” over their pushing of unhealthy food, they suggest. Health experts condemned the move as “business as usual” that would fail to stem the obesity epidemic. Sources in the Department of Health emphasised that they hoped to persuade the new cabinet to strengthen the plan, even at the cost of delaying it until after the summer.
Specific measures to restrict promotions, such as buy-one-get-one-free deals on unhealthy snacks, were blocked by other Whitehall departments, The Times reports. Instead the latest draft circulating in Whitehall says simply that “we will put in place additional targeted and proportionate measures to further reduce families’ exposure to adverts for unhealthy foods”, adding: “We will consult shortly on options for action.”
In January the draft strategy had stated: “The food and drinks industry will be given six months to come up with plans to reduce overall sugar in products consumed by children by around 20 per cent in five years, including a 5 per cent reduction in year one.” A legal maximum level of sugar in products was among the measures threatened if companies fell short. The latest draft, circulated this week, removes any threats and says only that “the food and drinks industry will be challenged to reduce overall sugar in products that contribute to children’s sugar intakes”. Sources told the paper that lobbying efforts (by the manufacturers) had become more successful with senior ministers distracted by the EU, while the industry became less co-operative after it was angered by the surprise announcement of a sugar tax in March.
Graham MacGregor, director of Action on Sugar, told The Times: “It’s a pathetic plan and it won’t have any effect on childhood obesity. Last year it was a really good plan but it’s been gradually eroded. Theresa May has got to go back and revise this completely.” But the Department of Health responded by saying: “Any suggestion that we are diminishing the ambition or measures we will take to reduce child obesity would be quite wrong at this point.”
Food Industry need to take Sugar reduction serious
If true then not good enough UNLESS the food industry come up with a very robust plan themselves - always better to get the industry onboard voluntarily BUT if this is just a fudge then as we have a very new Cabinet in position we Lobby directly AND go public, naming and shaming specific companies and products if necessary !!!Some companies have been good such as agreeing to label foods as just for 'Once a Week' like Dolmio sauces, but basically the public need empowering with information and the worst examples exposing prominently as needed :idea:
Yours still proactively,
Tony.
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