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John Whittingdale MP, Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
John Whittingdale MP opened the afternoon session of the Conference by stating that, after a morning debating advertising and promotion, the afternoon would involve discussing aspects of the debate that may actually affect obesity. In his opinion, there was a lot that needed to be done on health and its effect on the nation and, in particular, on a younger generation with a high propensity to be obese.
Whittingdale stated that it was all too easy for Government to say that fault lay with multinational companies, but that this argument was flawed. He listed the issues that he believed would make a difference as education, strong parental responsibility and providing opportunity for young people to exercise though facilities. He pointed out that the latter point was potentially more difficult to achieve than regulating food advertising.
Ben Clarke, Vice President & Area Director UK & Ireland, Kraft Foods - “GDA front-of-pack labelling”
Ben Clarke provided the Conference with an introduction to Kraft and the central role of its company vision – “Helping people around the world eat and live better”. He explained that labelling was only one part of the companies integrated programme. As the world’s second largest multinational, Kraft was more than happy to take its responsibility accordingly. He added that Kraft had 2,000 employees in the UK, working predominantly in its coffee factory in Banbury. Clarke stated that the a health strategy was the right thing to do, but also that it made good business sense, as there was a great opportunity to get people to eat and live better......... Full report (pdf)
Nick Bampton, Managing Director, Viacom Brand Solutions - “Promoting health and activity to children”
Bampton expressed his concern that, in recent years, there had been a decline of 60% in the volume of food advertising on children’s channels, resulting from the threat of legislation deterring many advertisers. He was also concerned that the industry was now looking down the barrel of counterproductive proposals, with a lack of appropriate tools (such as the proposed nutrient profiling model), potentially leading to only the highest margin products being advertised. He questioned why there was no public debate or collaboration over positive initiatives to change behaviour......... Full report (pdf)
Paul Sacher, Research Director, the MEND Programme - “Overcoming inequalities of diet and lifestyle: the importance of education”
Sacher provided an overview of the MEND programme, which was designed to educate and inform children and parents to moderate foods eaten and consider portion sizes, although it did not suggest banning anything and took into account the issues of children’s fussy eating. Sacher emphasised that any programme needed to address the population as a whole but target ‘at risk’ groups......... Full report (pdf)
Meeting the challenges of Choosing health
Food Advertising: the changing media landscape
An insight into the consumer
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