Tobacco-style laws needed to curb food industry excesses?

Related tags Food industry Nutrition

Tough restrictions on the marketing of food products - along the
lines of those in place for many years in the tobacco industry -
are the best solution to the growing problem of obesity, claimed
researchers last week. But the food industry has reacted angrily to
the link between food and tobacco, branding the scientists as
irresponsible.

In an article in last week's British Medical Journal​, researchers argued that global strategies similar to those used against the tobacco industry are needed to tackle the obesity epidemic.

The International Obesity TaskForce has forecast that adult obesity rates could rise to almost 50 per cent in little over 20 years in some countries. Obesity rates rose in the UK from 6-8 per cent in 1980 to 21-23.5 per cent in 2001. Among UK children overweight and obesity rates doubled to more than 20 per cent in less than 15 years, while in the US, 25 per cent of all white children overweight and 33 per cent of African American and Hispanic children were overweight in 2001.

But Mickey Chopra of the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape South Africa, and Ian Darnton-Hill, based at Columbia University, New York, suggested that diets across the globe are being shaped by a concentrated and global food industry that is fiercely resisting public health attempts to promote healthy eating.

The food industry tactics are similar to those used by the tobacco industry - supplying misinformation, use of supposedly conflicting evidence, and hiding negative data - they claimed.

They also attacked 'the half true contention' that there is no such thing as an unhealthy food, only unhealthy diets. The authors also accuse the industry of blaming a reduction in physical activity rather than diet for the rise inobesity and of using a smoke screen of apparently conflicting scientific data about sugars and different types of fat.

"Although scientific knowledge is still incomplete, it is less divided than the industry would have the public believe,"​ they said.

Advocates for tobacco control have used a variety of tactics in their campaign that could have relevance for the fight against unhealthy diets, suggest the authors.

"It will be much more difficult to establish internationally binding instruments or conventions like those achieved in tobacco control. Nevertheless, their importance in bringing about changes in national behaviour should not be under-rated,"​ the scientists said.

Potential international standards might cover issues such as marketing restrictions for unhealthy food products, restrictions on the advertising and availability of unhealthy products in schools, or potential price or tax measures to reduce the demand for unhealthy products.

"The public attention generated by the discussion and formulation of such standards may set general standards for corporate conduct without being potentially unacceptable and even generate enough political capital for national legislation,"​ they concluded.

The tobacco industry has famously been subjected to numerous lawsuits - and been forced to pay out huge sums of money - despite, the industry argues, no clear evidence linking cigarettes to diseases such as lung cancer.

The evidence linking food manufacturers to obesity is, if anything, even more scant - at least according to the industry - but this has not stopped similar lawsuits being threatened (the likes of Nestlé and Cadbury Schweppes have been mentioned as possible targets, while fast food groups such as McDonalds have already been dragged through the courts).

Perhaps fearful of this legal action, the food industry has taken steps to improve its image, reformulating and reassessing its product lines to favour healthier products, and as such it is fiercely critical of any suggestion that tougher legislation is needed.

For example, Martin Paterson, deputy director general of the UK's Food and Drink Federation, which represents the interests of the British food industry, said that it was "nonsense to compare important food and health issues with tobacco"​.

"The UK food and drink manufacturing industry is actively contributing to the debate and is publicly committed to being part of the solution. Over-excited conspiracy theories can do nothing but help undermine what should be a mature debate aimed at workable solutions,"​ he said.

But another recent report suggests that producing healthier food is only part of the solution - food companies need to make it more affordable as well. A report commissioned by the British children's charity NCH revealed that it costs significantly more to eat healthily, with a large basket of 'healthy' food costing just over £25, compared to £21 for the 'unhealthy' equivalent.

Since 1989 the cost of the healthy shopping basket has increased by 50 per cent while the unhealthy option has risen by just a third, said the charity. This cost is prohibiting many low income families from choosing healthy options and as a result, many children have a nutritionally poor diet, found the survey.

Almost 30 per cent of British consumers never eat green vegetables or salad, while one in ten never eat fruit and 43 per cent eat crisps most days, the study revealed.

Caroline Abrahams, NCH's director of Public Policy, was clear that the food industry needs to do more to ensure that healthier foods become more available to less well-off households. "It is right to be concerned about rising levels of childhood obesity - but NCH's new report shows that it's unfair to place all the blame on parents and children. The comparatively high cost of healthy food and sophisticated marketing used to encourage children to eat junk food are also significant factors,"​ she said.

She was also convinced that more, not less, legislation was the only solution. "The government needs to do much, much more if it is to put healthy food within the reach of children. Action is needed in schools, in the community and within the food industry. Most of all the government must make healthy food affordable to low-income families. Otherwise, drives to end child poverty and improve the nation's health are set to fail."

Related topics Ingredients