Young Children: Convenience Foods
Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Boycott(2 days, 12 hours ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I definitely understand where the noble Lord is coming from and also share the view about where he wishes to get to on this. Cooking lessons have not been specifically included in the programme, as I believe he may be aware, but the Start for Life website and email programme has advice for parents and carers, including healthy recipes and videos on weaning babies and feeding toddlers, and that has recently been updated.
I hope the noble Lord will welcome the fact that the family hubs and the Start for Life programme are central to the Government’s ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children. That is why we are investing approximately £57 million this year, including £18.5 million for infant feeding support.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, one area that goes under the radar is sponsorship of big sports events. The Olympics has Coca Cola and McDonald’s; many other Olympic sports have things such as Monster. In particular, rugby has Red Bull. The recommended daily allowance of sugar for a child is a maximum of 24 grams. A single can of Red Bull contains not only coffee but 27 grams of sugar. It is completely anti-health, yet we allow these adverts to be all over our televisions. Some 25 years ago, the noble Baroness’s Government took the brave decision to take all cigarettes off any sporting activity. Will this Government think about doing the same for soft drinks that actually make children ill, not healthy?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
As the noble Baroness is aware, we continue to support the levy on sugar in drinks. That has actually had success, not least with reformulation. On the point about advertising to which the noble Baroness referred, as I have said, we are committed to bringing in the advertising ban, which will be in place in January. Indeed, industry—TV and online advertising—has already agreed to implement what will be in the regulations earlier than that.
Marketing sponsorship is a much broader point, but again it is one we take very seriously and continue to keep our eye on. I cannot give the noble Baroness the reassurance she seeks today, but I can assure her how seriously we take the impact of advertising and branding and who it is aimed at, particularly where we seek to support better health for infants and young people.
Health: Obesity
Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Boycott(4 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Baroness Boycott
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the obstacles presented by industry to delivering policies to prevent obesity, and what steps they plan to avoid such obstacles.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
My Lords, we will make the shift from sickness to prevention to tackle the obesity crisis, working with industry where necessary and finding the most effective approach between mandatory and voluntary action. Since July, we have implemented our manifesto commitment to limit advertising of junk food to children, uprated the soft drinks industry levy and given councils clearer powers to block fast food outlets near schools, and we will continue this momentum.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply, and it is great to hear the steps that the Government are taking, but when we held our recent inquiry into ultra-processed food, we found a considerable conflict of interest. Although this is a legal and declared conflict of interest, it happens between the scientists advising the Government on food policy and the food industry. As we and, indeed, The BMJ magazine, revealed, the majority of the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition are either directly or indirectly in receipt of food industry money. Given that obesity rates continue to rise and, on the whole, government policies have either failed or been abandoned—there have been over 700 of them—do the Government think it is now time to insist that bodies such as SACN have no declared or otherwise financial links to food companies, which, after all, are the only ones to profit from the obesity epidemic?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Baroness refers to the report of the Food, Diet and Obesity Committee. I am grateful to her and the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, for chairing that committee and for the report. We are looking forward to responding by the end of this month. On the very specific question, I will look into the matter that she raised. I emphasise that our work with industry is to seek the most effective way forward between mandatory and voluntary action. What matters to us is successful outcomes in tackling what we regard to be an obesity crisis in this country.
Food and Drink Industry: Processed Sugar
Debate between Baroness Merron and Baroness Boycott(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Lord makes some very good points. I can give the assurance that all sweeteners have undergone a rigorous safety assessment before being authorised for use. It is also worth drawing the attention of your Lordships’ House to the fact that the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is currently considering the recent World Health Organization guideline, Use of Non-sugar Sweeteners, which has particularly suggested that achieving weight control may not necessarily be about replacing sugar with sweeteners. It is about acknowledging that sweeteners are more difficult—to use a non-technical term—to use in the reformulation of food than they are in drinks. There has been success in drinks, which has not been exactly mirrored in food, but there are technical and practical reasons for that.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, we all welcome the Government’s introduction of free breakfasts. However, at the moment, about 26% of kids are going into school obese and 46% are leaving school obese, so the question of what they eat in school is critical. At the moment, there seem to be no standards. Many of the breakfasts given are bagels and sugary cereals; they do not have fruit, porridge or vegetables. When is there going to be a standard, and what is it going to be?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
It is right that what children are given to eat in schools is absolutely crucial. The school food standards are in place, and they are meant to regulate and restrict food and drink that is provided in schools. It is important, and will be part of our move, following on from the Darzi review, towards the 10-year plan, to look at the quality of free school meals and ensure that they meet the requirements to support children and young people to eat healthily, not just for the immediate future but for forming good habits for the future.