Health secretary Andrew Lansley is launching a voluntary scheme, encouraging the food industry to warn its customers on the calorie content of the food they are serving. He wants information on calorie content to be displayed on menus, walls, tables and counters of fast food chains and sandwich shops as a means of reducing levels of obesity in the UK. His hope is that people will choose healthier alternatives as they become more aware of the calorie content of what's on offer.
But if he genuinely wants the UK to be a healthier nation, he should also be encouraging the food industry to be open about the levels of salt, sugar and preservatives they include in their products. For example, a Weight Watchers lasagne may be low in calories, but it will be high in other preservatives, additives and salt, none of which are good for our long term health. Furthermore, when Wimpey experimented with calorie counting on 2008 by including calorie counts on the menus in its 160 UK outlets, they noticed that there were no changes in people's buying habits.
Calorie counting in restaurants maybe an interesting addition, but calorie counting is not a decision changer and is blazingly obvious that the reason behind people's decision making is far more complex than Andrew Lansley seems to appreciate.
Once more, this is an example of a governement initiative which ticks a box, allows it to say its taking creative measures to fight obesity, but in reality, it will deliver nothing productive.
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