Labour will persevere with pledges made under the Responsibility Deal for at least another three years if it wins the general election.
Shadow health minister Luciana Berger said voluntary measures had “an important role to play” in the fight against obesity and praised companies for “significant effort and progress.” She said Labour would look to evaluate the pledges when they come to an end. Some pledges, such as on salt reduction, do not end until 2017.
Her comments come despite a strong attack by Berger and shadow health secretary Andy Burnham on the coalition’s relationship with the industry, with a new document, Labour’s New Approach to Public Health in the 21st Century, accusing ministers of allowing gains under the previous Labour administration to stall. It accuses the coalition of “a heavy reliance on voluntary action with industry” and of “becoming too close to commercial interests.” When asked by The Grocer if this meant Labour would scrap the Responsibility Deal, Berger said it had no such plans, although she promised it would “not flinch” from taking regulatory action on top, with Labour having set out plans to regulate the amount of fat, salt and sugar in foods “marketed substantially” to children as part of its proposals.
Berger said: “When the current pledges come to an end, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and this will guide our future approach to encouraging voluntary action.”
Labour was accused of not going far enough by health campaigners. “It is great to see that Andy Burnham is not afraid of making difficult decisions when it comes to tackling food companies,” said Action on Sugar campaign director Katherine Jenner. “But our view is that this is just the start, and that much more should be done if we are to prevent childhood obesity.
“We would like to see not just tightened restrictions of marketing of HFSS to kids, but a complete ban - both broadcast and non-broadcast. We would like to see a sugary drinks duty sensibly discussed, rather than quashed without being given full consideration.
“The Responsibility Deal is failing as a voluntary programme, and must be abolished in its current state. The only way we see it being able to progress, is if responsibility for nutrition was removed from the Department of Health and Ministerial control, and returned back to an independent agency.”
No comments yet