Lobby group argues for sugar reduction strategy to mirror salt
As anticipation of the government’s strategy to combat childhood obesity (expected in January) steadily grew, the Children’s Food Campaign in October called on a sugar reduction programme modelled on the successful salt reduction work of the past few years.
Malcolm Clark, co-ordinator of the Children’s Food Campaign, said simply looking at calories doesn’t get the type of sugar reduction that’s needed.
The way the government had been involved in reducing salt content in recent years offered an effective model, he said. He added: “We need strong targets and a government agency willing to name and shame.”
Clark said the Children’s Food Campaign also backed the call for a tax on sugary drinks, and wanted a 9pm watershed on advertising for high-fat and high-sugar products and much tougher regulation of advertising across all media, including online media.