Hosted by FoodNavigator and NutraIngredients, the debate bought consumer, industry and academic voices together to assess the scale of the problem, and consider ways to tackle a global public health crisis the McKinsey Global Institute says costs roughly €1.75 trillion annually, or 2.8% of global GDP.
“We as adults have accountability for what we eat,” said Tim Rycroft, director of corporate affairs at the UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
“But there’s also responsibility for organisations, governments, parents, local authorities, farmers, food and drink manufacturers and retailers.”
Rycroft and fellow panelist Pauline Castres, food policy officer at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), identified reformulation as an area where inroads could be made.
“Stricter reformulation means having clearer targets to reduce sugar, salt, and fat in foods,” she said. “We need the industry to come up with reduction targets and we need governments to be in the driver’s seat.”
Major food firms have responded to calls in reformulating products to help cut sodium, sugar and fat from its brands. For example, Nestlé cut sodium 22.7% in its portfolio between 2005 and 2012.
Mars said it has removed at least 15% of saturated fats from its Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, and Topic bars in the UK and Europe. Mars claimed that these products now had 35 - 45% less saturated fat per 100 g than the average of the top 25 chocolate brands in each market.
Food labelling
Food labelling and how consumers interpret the information was also identified as an area where long-term behavioural changes could be made.
“For all the benefits that they bring, we know that not enough consumers read the label,” said Rycroft. “And we have to find a way to cut through that and implement long-term behavioural changes. That’s the big challenge.”
He referred to the UK's ‘traffic light’ scheme introduced by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), in which the fat, sugar, and salt content of packaged food was labelled and colour-graded. Although it is voluntary, more than 75% of packaged foods feature the label.
However, Carrie Ruxton, dietitian & nutrition consultant for Nutrition Communications, argued manufacturers would find it difficult to change the colour coding after reformulation of a product had occurred.
“The amber colour is very broad and it is very difficult to get into green,” she said. However, I don’t think there is one perfect system and I do believe it, at a glance, gives the consumer some important information.”
One obvious determinant of how the fight against obesity would pan out is cost. Dr Andrew Shao, vice president for global nutrition policy at supplement maker Herbalife pointed out nutrient-dense foods were more expensive to produce.
“Empty calories cost very little as opposed to nutrient dense foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. This issue I believe is a huge reason that has contributed to the explosion of the obesity epidemic.”
He emphasised the role supplements could play in boosting nutrient-poor diets.
Food marketing
Despite voluntary industry efforts to restrict marketing and advertising of less healthy foods - especially to children - Castres urged greater government action.
“In cases where voluntary initiatives have not delivered, we need to get governments to state the rules and industry to be involved in the dialogue; otherwise regulation is the only option.”
“A World Health Organisation (WHO) nutrient profile model that restricts marketing to children and is adhered to by the 28 EU membership states is a matter of urgency for the industry to endorse.”
Rycroft said regulations in the UK that controlled advertising to children on television were strict enough.
“I agree that we need to make sure regulation of advertising to children keeps up with the debate. But I think the record of that in the UK is strong.”
Weight Management 2016 (#WeightMGMT16)
The debate, and other presentations, are available free and on-demand here.