Home
The fallout following the publication of a major obesity report continues as documents indicate that a healthy eating graphic from Public Health England (PHE) was developed with members of the food and drinks industry.
The image for the Eatwell Guide, which was unveiled in March, was decided upon by a reference group, half of which consisted of industry members including the British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation, and the Institute of Grocery Distribution – whose members include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose, as well as major food producers and brands.
The group also included representatives from the Association of Convenience Stores and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which is funded by farmers and growers and supports the meat, dairy and potato industry.
Criticism of PHE’s links with industry were made in a new report published on Monday from the National Obesity Forum and Public Health Collaboration. It said the low-fat and low-cholesterol message, which has been official policy in the UK since 1983, was based on “flawed science” and had resulted in an increased consumption of junk food and carbohydrates.
Half of reference group that created healthy-eating graphic consisted of food-industry members
Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant cardiologist and founding member of PHC, a group of medics, said he expected a backlash from the “food industry establishment”.
“My whole career is about exposing conflicts of interest and promoting health eating advice that is free from commercial influence,” he told i. “We must urgently change the message to the public to reverse obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”
The external reference group for the Eatwell Guide met several times between 2014 and 2015.
Their terms of reference included revising the segment sizes for the Eatwell Plate, reviewing the visuals and “approaches for reflecting messages on foods that should be consumed in limited amounts”, according to documents seen by the Press Association.
Food industry links
The eventual guide put high-fat and high-sugar foods outside the healthy eating “wheel”, with a warning to “eat less often and in small amounts”.
The dairy section was cut to almost half its previous size and replaced with pictures of several lower fat options.
The beans, pulses, fish, meat and eggs section remained the same size but advised people to “eat less red and processed meat”.
The guide also told consumers to eat “at least” five portions of fruit and veg per day, while the section for potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates was beefed up to give a slightly bigger role for these foods.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, said decisions on the graphic were made separately to the nutritional recommendations underpinning them.
She said: “Our independent experts review all the available evidence – often hundreds of scientific papers – run full-scale consultations and go to great lengths to ensure no bias when developing our scientific advice on nutrition.
“These recommendations are completely separate to the Eatwell model, which is a visual way of presenting the information.
“The refresh of the Eatwell model was conducted openly using robust scientific approaches. Advice was generated from an external reference group engaging interested stakeholders; including health, voluntary and industry representatives to ensure a wide range of views were considered.”
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/obesity-report-food-industry-public-health/
The image for the Eatwell Guide, which was unveiled in March, was decided upon by a reference group, half of which consisted of industry members including the British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation, and the Institute of Grocery Distribution – whose members include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose, as well as major food producers and brands.
The group also included representatives from the Association of Convenience Stores and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which is funded by farmers and growers and supports the meat, dairy and potato industry.
Criticism of PHE’s links with industry were made in a new report published on Monday from the National Obesity Forum and Public Health Collaboration. It said the low-fat and low-cholesterol message, which has been official policy in the UK since 1983, was based on “flawed science” and had resulted in an increased consumption of junk food and carbohydrates.
Half of reference group that created healthy-eating graphic consisted of food-industry members
Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant cardiologist and founding member of PHC, a group of medics, said he expected a backlash from the “food industry establishment”.
“My whole career is about exposing conflicts of interest and promoting health eating advice that is free from commercial influence,” he told i. “We must urgently change the message to the public to reverse obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”
The external reference group for the Eatwell Guide met several times between 2014 and 2015.
Their terms of reference included revising the segment sizes for the Eatwell Plate, reviewing the visuals and “approaches for reflecting messages on foods that should be consumed in limited amounts”, according to documents seen by the Press Association.
Food industry links
The eventual guide put high-fat and high-sugar foods outside the healthy eating “wheel”, with a warning to “eat less often and in small amounts”.
The dairy section was cut to almost half its previous size and replaced with pictures of several lower fat options.
The beans, pulses, fish, meat and eggs section remained the same size but advised people to “eat less red and processed meat”.
The guide also told consumers to eat “at least” five portions of fruit and veg per day, while the section for potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates was beefed up to give a slightly bigger role for these foods.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, said decisions on the graphic were made separately to the nutritional recommendations underpinning them.
She said: “Our independent experts review all the available evidence – often hundreds of scientific papers – run full-scale consultations and go to great lengths to ensure no bias when developing our scientific advice on nutrition.
“These recommendations are completely separate to the Eatwell model, which is a visual way of presenting the information.
“The refresh of the Eatwell model was conducted openly using robust scientific approaches. Advice was generated from an external reference group engaging interested stakeholders; including health, voluntary and industry representatives to ensure a wide range of views were considered.”
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/obesity-report-food-industry-public-health/
