The bid to help tackle obesity in the UK has seen 17 companies including big brand names like Coca-cola, Tesco, Asda and Subway signing up to the Government scheme. The “calorie reduction pledge” developed by the Department of Health is part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal.
The Department of Health has reported that England has the highest obesity rate in Europe and believes that the core of the problem is too many calories consumed.
Mike Swain from the Mirror reported the following…
Will Cutting The Amount of calories in foods Help solve Obesity
Food firms are to limit the calories in bars of chocolate and fizzy drinks as Britain battles an obesity crisis.
They have promised the Government they will make their products healthier as part of a “Responsibility Deal” in which five billion calories will be cut from the nation’s diet.
Seventeen companies, including supermarkets, food manufacturers and food outlets, have signed a new “calorie reduction pledge”.
Andrew Lansley said the agreement, involving more than three-quarters of the retail market, would help cut “five billion calories” from the nation’s diet every day.
He added: “Eating and drinking too many calories is at the heart of the nation’s obesity problem.”
Those signed up include Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Coca-Cola Great Britain, Kerry Foods, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Unilever, Beefeater (part of Whitbread), Subway and contract caterer Compass.
Under the pledge, Asda will develop a new reduced-calorie brand that will contain at least 30% fewer calories than its Chosen By You brand.
Coca-Cola will reduce the calories in some of its soft drinks by at least 30% by 2014 while Mars will cap the number of calories in its chocolate to 250 per portion by the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, Morrisons has pledged to launch a range of more than 300 healthier products.
And Premier Foods, which makes Ambrosia, Batchelors, Hovis, Loyd Grossman, Mr Kipling, Angel Delight and Sharwood’s, will reduce calories in a third of its sales by the end of 2014.
Some 30% of new products will also be “lower calorie choices”, according to the Department of Health.
Subway now offers five out of its nine low-fat subs, each with fewer than 370 calories, as part of its £3 lunch offer.
And Tesco is also “on track” to remove 1.8 billion calories from its soft drinks and will expand its Eat, Live, Enjoy range.
Mr Lansley said: “We all have a role to play – from individuals to public, private and non-governmental organisations – if we are going to cut five billion calories from our national diet.
“It is an ambitious challenge but the responsibility deal has made a great start.
“This pledge is just the start of what must be a bigger, broader commitment from the food industry.
“But it is a great step in the right direction and will help millions of us eat and drink fewer calories.” You can read the full story here.
Its great news that these companies are taking action to fight obesity, but are these actions going to be enough to make a difference?
At the end of the day this is a step in the right direction, but if not enough awareness is created to educate people that its all about eating the right types of foods, it won’t make much difference. I read somewhere that… An athlete eats roughly 5000 calories a day, more than double the average, but the excess is burned off, they also eat the right types of calories in the form of fruits, vegetables and unprocessed foods, if they ate the same amount of calories in the form of chocolate bars and junk they might not get the same performance.
We all know that reducing calories and increasing our activities will result in weight loss, but it’s also about eating the right types of calories. Buying a trolley full of reduced calorie labelled food isn’t going to make a difference, if you don’t understand that it’s about balancing your diet with other good foods like fruit, veggies and lean meats. And we all know that not because it says low fat on a label that, that particular food is healthy for you.
At the end of the day, it’s understanding what your body needs, eating well-balanced nutritious meals with the odd little treat in between, all within moderation of course.
What are your thoughts on this subject, do you think this will make a great impact on fighting obesity? If you think this article deserves a like click the LIKE button and remember I value your comments so please leave them below, I know you have an opinion on this subject.
No comments yet.