L ast March, Public Health England (PHE) announced a plan to reduce the calories in the food we buy. The British public routinely consumes more than it needs and the NHS has to fork out £6.1bn a year to deal with the fallout. Overeating, the government made clear, is something that needs to be tackled early and urgently. The year-long public consultation it duly launched – and which is about to close – is the first step.
PHE’s plan is detailed in a 93-page white paper entitled Calorie Reduction: The Scope and Ambition for Action. It defines the extent of the problem: one in three children start secondary school either overweight or obese, and a direct correlation can be made with the two in three adults who are in the same categories. A proposed course of action is laid: the country’s eateries – which the report lists as restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways and delivery services – must cut the calories in the food they sell by 20%. Once the consultation on this programme closes, targeted businesses will have until 2024 to achieve the reduction.
Continue reading...posted from The Guardian
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.