Industry tackling excess use of sugar, fat and salt
Claims by academics and medics in the article ‘The Politics of Obesity’ (August 27) that not much has changed in the past 15 years to solve obesity or improve health overlooks significant progress and fails to give credit for work being done.
While that article presented many opinions from those who believe not enough is being done in the right places on this issue, it contained just a very short response from the other side of the argument. The main industry representative, the NZ Food and Grocery Council, believes a great deal has been done.
In the past 15 years there have been big changes within the food industry, by the Government, and in the advertising environment. Marketers now abide by detailed advertising codes which are overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority. There are codes for advertising food, alcohol and advertising food to children. All the codes state that advertising must not encourage excess consumption. Advertising to children must not undermine parents or compromise healthy choices. Many people who read them remark on how detailed the codes are. The industry works hard to adhere to these rules. Many companies, such as Nestle, CocaCola and Mars, go further and have policies of not advertising to children at all.On television, a lot has changed in the past 15 years. There is now no advertising during pre-school television programmes and the amount of food advertising during school-age programming has reduced dramatically to insignificant levels.
There have been massive changes to food products and how they are sold. Walk into a supermarket today and space dedicated for fresh produce has increased. Thousands of products have been developed or reformulated to reduce salt, fat or sugar. Soda is a prime example. Fifteen years ago there were limited options for zero or low sugar. Now there are zero-sugar options for all major brands.
What food companies are doing in the community has changed. There are many examples of companies funding nutrition and cooking education, breakfast programmes, and physical activity projects. Two years ago our industry raised $250,000 to go towards an obesity prevention project, and the Warehouse Group has just raised a phenomenal $765,000 that will all go towards teaching children about nutrition. Companies such as Nestle and Sanitarium have funded programmes such as Be Healthy, Be Active, and the Kids Tryathlon. Sanitarium also launched a free nutrition service for all New Zealanders, while Coca-Cola’s Move60 programme has focused on getting more Kiwis active. There are many others.
The school environment has changed significantly. Companies have been part of the Heart Foundation’s Fuelled4Life programme and many have redeveloped their products to make them healthier. Most schools today are water and milk only. Coca-Cola and Frucor, through the voluntary schools agreement with the Government, have not been selling sugary drinks to schools for years. These are all significant changes.
The concern about children and adults consuming excess sugar, fat and salt, and too many calories overall is now on the agenda of all New Zealand Food and Grocery Council member companies.
Many have embraced the Government’s new Health Star Rating system for packaged foods. The number of products carrying the new Star labels grows, and a smartphone app is now available so people can see rankings for all products. This entire system for Australia and New Zealand is new and it is progress.
There has also been another change in the past couple of decades. While sugar is the focus today, 20 years ago it was all about high-fat/high-risk, low-fat/lowrisk, with hardly a mention of sugar – because sugar was thought to play little part in obesity or heart disease. Any link between soda and obesity was seen as mere speculation, and even sugar labelling was seen as counter-productive in determining what foods people should consumer. Clearly, views have changed as the campaign is now for sugar taxes and teaspoon labelling, but there’s never been any explanation as to when or why the change in tack occurred.
Soda taxes have not worked anywhere in the world to reduce obesity or the consumption of too many calories. In Mexico, the 10 per cent tax has generated billions of pesos, and after a slight decline initially, sales are now back to pre-tax levels. These are independent Nielsen figures and are beyond reproach.
It’s a shame that those campaigning for taxation and regulation seem to have parked advice regarding energy balance (still a fundamental basis on nutrition theory) and the importance of physical activity. Focusing on food is only one part of a very complex equation. FGC is an industry association and a voice for grocery-makers. We regularly make evidence-based submissions on government consultations and bills which we publish on our website. We also participate in public discussion about issues facing our industry and New Zealand. This is not the ‘politics of obesity’, it’s just democracy in action.
* Katherine Rich is the chief executive of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council.
There are many examples of food companies funding nutrition and cooking education, breakfast programmes, and physical activity projects.