The World Health Organization (WHO) has chosen the UK model to combat the obesity epidemic in the Old World. Inviting its 50 countries to participate in the campaign the UK will lead, in spring 2022, to achieve reductions in calories and sugar in packaged foods and beverages.
The UK model against sugar
The UK’s choice is a significant tribute from the World Health Organization to the UK model against sugar, salt and too many calories. In 2020, in fact, the Conservative government adopted an ‘interventionist’ policy, on outlets and the
marketing
of junk food. With the express purpose of countering the epidemic of obesity and overweight that afflicts 63 percent of the British population and exacerbates the impact of pandemics, as seen.
Policies initiated by the United Kingdom have already achieved a 13 percent reduction in added sugar in foods most commonly consumed by children, such as breakfast cereals, yogurt, and cream cheese. They will be expanded by the new Office of Health Improvement and Disparities of the Department of Health and Social Welfare, established on 1.10.21 to reduce inequalities and effectively address obesity by helping to improve mental health and promoting physical activity.
Pincer maneuver against junk food
The slight nutritional improvements noted in the UK are not enough. The vast majority of food products dedicated to children and adolescents in the EU are junk food, as attested by the European Commission in 2019 and just confirmed by FoodWatch, with special market analyses. And Big Food ‘s pledges to improve the nutritional profiles of products are belied by industry data themselves, as revealed by the Financial Times on Nestlé in June 2021.
Therefore, the improvement strategy is glimpsed in a pincer maneuver:
– WHO in the forefront on both fronts of product reformulation, with this campaign, and nutritional information on FOP(Front-of-Pack. Ex.
NutriScore
), e
– consumAtors, who are increasingly attentive to the nutritional profiles of products, thanks in part to innovative information tools such as the Yuka app.
A global action
‘In a global market where food is increasingly supplied by the same international groups, collective action on reducing sugar and calories will stimulate the food industry to act more broadly and quickly,’ the British government says in a press release.
The WHO Sugar and Calorie Reduction Network will be launched in spring 2022, and the 50 states of the European macro-region will be invited to join.
The European Commission will have to play its part by introducing a requirement that the NutriScore be applied to the front label of all processed and ultra-processed products on the shelf in the EU. State governments are responsible for prioritizing public health over the junk-food business by introducing purpose fees and strict limits on marketing.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
 has chosen the UK model to combat the obesity epidemic in the Old World. Inviting 50 member countries.){kind=link}