13
NEWS
Working together
Obesity increases the risk of cancer,
heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and
other conditions, and it is essential
that the food industry works together
to support the UK Government's
approach to preventing ill health.
However, with an inconsistency
in how businesses report on the
healthiness of their food and drink
sales, it is difficult to assess the
progress that is being made across
the industry.
Food businesses are often at the
heart of communities, and have an
important role to play in creating,
promoting and providing healthy
food. Tesco remains committed to
taking a leading role to supporting
our customers to lead healthier
lives and tackling the barriers that
they face including affordability,
lack of access to healthy food,
or a lack of time, knowledge or
inspiration when making healthier
choices. An increased transparency
in healthier food sales reporting
can support more evidence-led
policy and better-targeted health
interventions.
Tesco is on track to meet its 65%
healthier sales target by the end of
this year, which is being achieved
through interventions including
voluntarily removing multi-buy
promotions on less healthy products
and the reformulation of own-brand
products to reduce salt, fat and
sugar.
Tesco Group
Ken Murphy, Tesco Group CEO said
of the letter, "There are more people
living with obesity in the UK than
ever before. Tesco, along with the
food industry, has a critical part to
play in supporting preventive health
measures, through giving access
to affordable, healthier, quality
food. Through our partnership with
Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK
and the British Heart Foundation,
we have shown that collaboration
can drive meaningful change. But to
truly support public health, we need
consistent, transparent reporting
across the industry. We urge the UK
Government to take this important
step forward to make healthier food
sales reporting mandatory."
Diabetes UK
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive
of Diabetes UK added, "With the
numbers of people living with
type 2 diabetes rising in the UK,
and millions more at high risk of
developing it, bold action is needed
to reverse this alarming trend. The
food industry has a key part to play
here, in making healthy, affordable
choices accessible to everyone.
That's why this call, with Tesco
and our health charity partners,
is significant because it would
improve transparency and ensure
businesses can be held to account.
The Government's ambition to 'shift
the dial' from sickness to prevention
can only be achieved if addressing
the rise of type 2 diabetes is central
to its strategy. It's a shift that must
be driven by public health policies
like this one, as well as the junk food
marketing ban."
British Heart
Foundation
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief
Executive of the British Heart
Foundation also commented, saying:
"A healthy, balanced diet is essential
to good heart health throughout our
lives, and the major supermarkets
have a key role in helping people
achieve this. The Charity Partnership
with Tesco, Cancer Research UK
and Diabetes UK is already making
a real impact on improving people's
health, but there is more to do.
There is no doubt that mandatory
reporting on healthier food sales
will drive improvements across the
food industry, and it is great to see
a leading retailer like Tesco already
transparently sharing their progress.
We urge governments across the
UK to adopt this measure as soon
as possible. Doing so would mark
a major step forward towards a
world in which people's hearts are
healthier, for longer."
Cancer Research UK
In addition, Michelle Mitchell,
Cancer Research UK's chief
executive, said, "Being overweight
or obese is the second biggest cause
of cancer in the UK, and is linked
with 13 different types. The world
around us can make it difficult to
keep a healthy weight. Supermarkets
can play a major role in supporting
people to make healthy choices,
and as Tesco is showing, we need
government action to ensure this
happens across the UK. As well as
fully implementing legislation to
restrict the advertising and price
promotion of unhealthy food and
drink, the UK Government must go
further by introducing mandatory
reporting on healthy food sales.
These steps will ensure that everyone
can live longer, better lives, free from
the fear of cancer."