Retailers should be encouraged to play a greater role in improving public health, according to speakers at a major food industry lecture this week.
A discussion panel at the annual City Food Lecture, entitled “The Role of Food in Public Health”, agreed the government should work with retailers and other leading food-industry bodies to guide the public in achieving a healthier lifestyle.
TNS divisional managing director Giles Quick said: “My personal view is that government has missed a trick in not engaging more with retailers.
“There’s a greater concentration of retailer power in the UK than in any other developed country in the world.”
NFU president Tim Bennett said the government should also take up leading members of the food industry, such as Cadbury Schweppes, on their persistent offers to get involved.
“Consumers trust their favourite brands far more than the government,” he said.
The panel was united in its dismissal of the government’s proposed traffic-lighting system for grading the healthiness of food, which would lead to the demonisation of most non-produce items, it said.
Judy Buttriss, science director of the British Nutrition Foundation, insisted the industry must take its lead from government and appointed nutritionists, however. Instead of a polarised debate, ministers and industry leaders should join up to create a more beneficial programme of education, she added.
Meanwhile, Bennett said he was surprised by the recent figures indicating a 2.1 per cent drop in the consumption of vegetables between 2001 and 2004.
With consumers managing an average of two pieces of fruit and veg a day, there is still considerable room for improvement, the panel agreed.
Despite this, the reported increase in fruit consumption showed the 5 A DAY campaign’s message is steadily filtering through, it claimed.
“Recent studies show that people find it easier to eat fruit than they do to eat vegetables,” said Buttriss. “We need to focus on the types of occasion where people would be able to eat more vegetables. It’s easy to snack on fruit but less so on vegetables, especially cooked vegetables.”
