Retailers support Government health scheme
15 March 2011 10:27
Some 170 companies have signed up to the Government's responsibility deal on public health, with pledges including warnings on alcohol and cuts to unhealthy salt and fat in food.
Fast food chain McDonald's announced it will display calories on menu boards across its 1,200 restaurants from September and remove trans fats, as did fast food outlets such as Pizza Hunt and KFC.
Meanwhile, drink producers and retailers, including Diageo, Carlsberg and Majestic Wine have pledged to provide clear unit labelling, support awareness campaigns and develop a new sponsorship code on responsible drinking.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley hopes the new responsibility deal will improve public health while avoiding regulation for food companies and the alcohol industry.
Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, The Co-operative and Waitrose are on board while several major food firms have promised to improve labelling.
But six major health organisations have refused to enlist as partners on the alcohol aspects of the responsibility deal, accusing the Government of allowing the drinks industry to dictate health policy.
Firms also promise to "provide simple and consistent information in the on-trade (e.g. pubs and clubs), to raise awareness of the unit content of alcoholic drinks" and "explore together with health bodies how messages around drinking guidelines and the associated health harms might be communicated".
Venues such as supermarkets and off-licences, and in-store magazines will carry information on units of alcohol, the calorie content of alcoholic drinks, NHS drinking guidelines and the "health harms associated with exceeding guidelines".
Other commitments include measures to stop the sale of alcohol to under-age children while committing money to the industry-funded Drinkaware charity.
A new "sponsorship code" will require the promotion of responsible drinking, not putting alcohol adverts on outdoor poster sites within 100 metres of schools and adhering to Drinkaware brand guidelines to "ensure clear and consistent usage".
A separate series of pledges relate to increasing the amount of exercise people take.
There is also a commitment to "promote and support more active travel (walking and cycling)" and to "set measurable targets for this health-enhancing behaviour".
Companies can also recruit "workplace champions" to encourage employees to stay active.
Pledges aimed at keeping people healthy at work include using only occupational health services which meet new standards.
Firms are also committing to include a section on the health and wellbeing of employees within their annual reports and/or websites, including staff sickness absence rates.
Other "basic measures" include ensuring healthy food and drink is available for staff and working "with caterers to reformulate recipes to provide lower fat, salt and energy meals, and which do not contain artificial trans fats".
Catering outlets should provide "responsibly-sized portions of food" and promote the "consumption of fruit and vegetables through availability and price promotion".
Water should also be freely available and "visible" for staff.
On food, firms signing up have agreed to several measures previously announced, including calories on menus, salt reduction targets and removing trans fats from products by the end of 2011.
Jill McDonald, chief executive of McDonald's UK and Northern Europe, said: "Displaying calories on menus supports the principles we've always believed are important: giving our customers clear information to make informed choices; providing a balanced menu by offering choice and reformulating our recipes; and responding to what our customers want. We've tested menu board labelling in 125 restaurants and the results show it's a move that some of our customers would value."
Over the weekend, Heineken announced it would cut the alcohol content of one of its major brands after signing up to the responsibility deal.
The firm, which makes drinks including Foster's, John Smith's, Strongbow and Bulmers, will also carry unit information on all its branded drinking glasses.
Asda has also pledged to end front-of-store alcohol displays by the end of April and has pledged £1 million to community projects.
But Alcohol Concern, the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Physicians, the British Association for the Study of the Liver, the British Liver Trust and the Institute of Alcohol Studies said yesterday they were refusing to support the deal.
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