Fat Tax a Good Idea

[Guest guest]

Food firms fight to see off the 'fat tax'

 

FRANK O’DONNELL CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

 

FOOD producers stung by criticism that they are contributing to Britain’s

obesity epidemic are rushing to develop low-fat, low-calorie alternatives

to popular brands in a bid to head off tough new government controls, the

threat of a " fat tax " and potential US-style lawsuits.

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) this week said the industry had two years

to improve its record on promoting products to children, while in May the

Commons health committee made 69 recommendations for urgent government

intervention.

 

Now a number of major companies are fighting back, with efforts to limit

calorie and fat intake and encourage exercise. Coca-Cola this week

launched an anti-obesity programme, Active Lifestyle, which aims to

encourage healthy living. Significantly, the scheme includes a pledge for

more responsible sales and marketing. Earlier this year, the company

agreed to remove advertising from vending machines in secondary schools.

 

Cadbury Schweppes - which controversially promoted the collection of

chocolate wrappers in exchange for school sports equipment - this week

said it was reviewing production of king-size chocolate bars, and is also

developing a chocolate product made with skimmed milk.

 

The frozen food manufacturer Birds Eye has spent £4 million reducing salt

and harmful fats in its products, and removing all artificial colourings

and flavourings. Its new £25 million advertising campaign shows fish

swimming in supermarket freezer cabinets and chickens roaming free with

the slogan: " We don’t play with your food. "

 

McVitie’s, meanwhile, has removed hydrogenated vegetable oil from

Digestive, Rich Tea and Hob Nob biscuits. The oil contains trans fatty

acids (TFAs), which are associated with obesity, clogging of arteries,

heart disease and strokes. TFAs will also be removed from Mars bars, Rolo,

Toffee Crisp, Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Tuc biscuits.

 

The Consumers’ Association has led the fight to force the food and drink

industry to make products healthier, attacking levels of salt, fat and

sugar in ready meals and breakfast cereals.

 

In a submission to the government, the association set out 12 key demands

including the introduction of a national nutrition labelling scheme by

2005, targets on reducing obesity, and a watershed for advertising to

children.

 

The Commons health committee said the number of obese people had shot up

by 400 per cent in 25 years. Two-thirds of Britons are now overweight or

obese. The MPs said this would lead to more people with heart disease,

cancer and kidney failure, putting strain on the NHS.

 

This combination of pressure, and an increasing appetite from the public

for healthier alternatives, appears to be forcing manufacturers to act.

 

McDonald’s has already said it will scrap super-size portions by the end

of 2004, while Tesco has pledged to adopt a traffic-light labelling system

giving consumers an at-a-glance guide to how much fat, sugar and salt a

product contains.

 

Dr Tim Lobstein, director of the Food Commission, an independent consumer

watchdog, said it was clear manufacturers were being driven by a fear of

legal action and the threat of government intervention. But he added:

" They are not doing enough and their promises so far have amounted to very

little. We have lost faith in the food industry and we don’t believe them

until we actually see them act. "

 

David Hinchliffe MP, the chairman of the Commons health committee, said:

" There is a mixed picture among the producers, but consumers will judge,

and I think it will be the companies that really move to adopt the agenda

for healthier food that go on being profitable. "

 

The Scottish Tory health spokesman, David Davidson, welcomed Coca Cola’s

anti-obesity programme but said it would mean very little unless the

company changed its product. Shona Robison, for the SNP, said: " These

companies have been forced into these measures because of the huge concern

expressed about obesity levels. We should have a ban on junk food

advertising as soon as possible. They have had years to regulate

themselves and failed. "

 

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drink Federation, a trade body for the UK

industry, said: " Individual companies have for a long time been looking at

what the consumer wants. There is a definite interest in looking at

products lower in sugar, lower in salt, lower in fat. "

 

 

 

" American corporations aren't stupid: They know from public relations. I

am indebted to Mother Jones for the following list of recent corporate

name changes: Nuclear Engineering is now U.S. Ecology; Monsanto Specialty

Chemicals is now Solutia; ChemLawn/ChemGreen is now Tru Green/Land Care;

the Agricultural Insecticide and Fungicide Association is now CropLife

America, and Benton Oil and Gas Company has become Harvest Natural

Resources. Think they're on to something? "

--Molly Ivens, columnist