Soft drinks - The Food Commission

INQUIRYCause obesity? ‘Not us’food companies tell MPsJanuary saw the last session of parliament’s Health SelectCommittee inquiry into obesity. The committee’s report togovernment is due in April. Over the next three pages wereview some of the statements made by the food industry --and contrast their words with their deeds.The Health Select Committee inquiry intoobesity was set up by government togather evidence from individuals andorganisations whose work affects what weeat and how much exercise we take. Thecommittee, representing a cross-section ofMPs and political parties, heard evidencefrom food manufacturers, advertisers, foodand physical exercise specialists, consumergroups and academics. It has been a landmarkinvestigation into the cultural causes ofdisease.Among those submitting written evidencewas the Food Commission, drawing on ourinvestigations into food, food labelling andfood marketing conducted over the past 15years. We were also called to give oralevidence to the committee and were able topresent the concerns not only of our ownsupporters, nutritionists and campaigners, butalso of the hundreds of members of theParents Jury who want to see children’s foodimprove. We emphasised the need fornutritional standards for children’s foods,decent resources for promoting healthierdiets, and better food labelling. We also saidASDA ‘wants to help parents’During the obesity inquiry, ASDA was confronted by MPs withevidence from a Food Commission survey showing the retailer tobe the worst offender in terms of high-calorie snacks and softdrinks displayed at supermarket checkouts – all of them withinchildren’s reach. ASDA admitted to the MPs it hada responsibility to promote healthy food andquickly announced that, for a trial period, itwould display fruit at four or five in every 20of its checkouts.What ASDA did not reveal to the HealthSelect Committee was that just twoweeks earlier it had allowed McDonald’sto open a restaurant in an ASDA store inScotland for the first time. Scotland’ssecond ASDA McDonald’s opened 11days later in Kirkcaldy – at almostexactly the same time as ASDA wasmaking its ‘healthy checkouts’commitment to MPs.that government should tackle the unhealthyimbalance in food marketing to children.Also giving evidence were representativesfrom supermarkets, the food and drinkindustries and the food advertisers. Put underthe spotlight, many of these representativestried to steer the committee towardsuncontroversial options such as improvedfood labelling and better food education inschools, and away from restrictions onunhealthy food advertising or nutritionalstandards for processed children’s food.On the following pages, we report on whatthe food and advertising industries told theMPs … and what they didn’t.Pepsi claims its ‘labelling isfantastic!’From January, for the first time, Pepsi labelswill reveal to customers that Pepsi is around11% sugar. Information, the food companiesall agreed, was essential in order forcustomers to be ‘free to make their ownchoice’. Two points of interest arise here.First, that the UnitedStates has hadmandatory nutritionlabelling since 1994,and obesity rates inthe US are stillrocketing. Clearly,information isn’teverything. Andsecond, suchinformation can bepresented in allsorts of ways. Atthe obesity inquirynew labelling forWalkers crisps wasproudly exhibited byPepsico UK, thecompany whichowns both Pepsiand Walkers. Thisinformation panelwill appear on 240million Walkerscrisp packets anddescribes what thecompany wants usto believe is ahealthy, balanceddiet. ‘It is importantto have a variety offood for lunch’, says the panel, ‘including ‘alittle treat’ – a daily bag of high-fat, high-saltWalkers crisps.Pepsico have yet tointroduce the informationpanel shown above, butin the meantime theyseem to be doing theirbest to expand thewaistlines of the nation.Bags of Walkers Crispsnow contain 50% morecrisps, boosting thetotal fat content toover 18g per pack."Sorry, kid, no snacks onthis checkout!"ASDA told MPs they would tryselling fruit at some checkouts,but that failed to mention that theyhave incorporated Mcdonald’srestaurants into stores across the UK.Food Magazine 64 11 Jan/Mar 2004