Food industry ready for national preventative health challenges

Australia’s food and grocery sector stands ready to proactively face the challenges outlined in the federal government’s National Preventative Health Taskforce Strategy, according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC).

The taskforce report 'Australia: The Healthiest Country by 2020' has outlined several challenging recommendations for food and grocery manufacturers, to be phased in between 2010-2013, which AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell, a member of the taskforce, said would be addressed through strategic partnerships between government, industry and community.

“Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing sector welcomes these preventative health challenges and has already made strong inroads in these areas with a number of self-regulated measures including front-of-pack food labelling, an advertising-to-children initiative and the reduction of salt and transfats in processed foods,” Carnell said.

“Obesity is one of the major challenges facing our country and industry is committed to being part of the solution. We stand ready to work with government and communities but there’s still plenty of work ahead - the pressure’s now firmly on Australia’s food and grocery sector to deliver on its promises.

“While a number of the strategy’s recommendations directly target industry, the taskforce report is also a major call to action for all Australians to play an important role in improving their physical health and eating habits over the next few years.”

Advertising foods to children

Under Recommendation 5 in the report’s obesity section, the National Preventative Health Taskforce Strategy has recommended a reduction in the exposure of children to advertising of energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and to monitor the impact of an industry-regulated approach to advertising these products to children.

In relation to this recommendation, Carnell highlighted the success of AFGC’s Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative, where 16 leading Australian food manufacturers have signed up to the initiative, which came into effect on 1 January this year.

“It’s encouraging to see Australia’s food manufacturers have already committed not to advertise certain foods to children under this initiative, unless they are promoting healthy dietary choices and a healthy lifestyle consistent with scientific standards. This initiative will be closely scrutinised and evaluated by government and other groups to assess its effectiveness.”

Front-of-pack food labelling

Under Recommendation 2 in the obesity section, the taskforce recommended a partnership approach between industry, health and consumer groups to introduce front-of-pack food labelling to support healthier food choices with easy to understand information on energy, sugar, fat, saturated fats, salt and transfats and a standard serve/portion size within three years.

Carnell said industry had already taken a proactive approach to community concerns by introducing daily intake guides (DIG) in 2006 after reviewing food labelling systems around the world.

Recognised as the most effective and credible system by the European Union, DIG labels are already applied to a large proportion of cereal, cheese, biscuits and drink products in Australia. DIG labels give consumers information about the amount of energy, fat, sat fats, sugar and salt in a portion of the product and how this relates to average daily requirements.

Health Food Compact

The taskforce has recommended driving further change in Australia’s food supply and to develop voluntary targets through the establishment of the Health Food Compact framework between government, industry and community groups, which has been welcomed by AFGC.

“Working collaboratively to reduce the amount of salt, fats and transfats in products has the potential to make many staple products healthier - industry has already reduced salt, saturated fats, salt and transfats in many products,” Carnell said.

“For example, over the past five years there has been about a 20% reduction of salt, on average, in breads, with levels dropping from 550 to 450 mg. Low fat milk also accounted for 45% of the retail milk market in Australia in 2008.”

Review of taxation

The strategy has recommended a review of economic policies and taxation systems. Carnell said industry was not convinced that taxes on foods were the answer to effectively tackle Australia’s obesity problem.

“Food taxes are regressive as they penalise people who can least afford it - however industry does support a review of taxation policies that promote active living and healthy lifestyles,” Carnell said.

Carnell said overall there was no quick fix solution for the growing levels of obesity and chronic disease in Australia.

“We will only reverse this trend with a comprehensive and strategic approach involving governments, industry, the community and individuals. We all have to commit to make Australia healthier, whether in the workplace, at school or at home.”