Our response to the UK Government’s call for evidence on the link between food, diet and obesity
The food and drink industry's role in shaping diet trends and influencing policy-making is profound and often detrimental to public health goals. To combat this, governments and public health organisations need to implement and enforce policies that limit industry influence, promote transparency, and prioritise long-term health and sustainability over immediate industry profits. Such measures are essential to realign the commercial food system with public health, environmental sustainability, and societal well-being
The deadline for the inquiry collection by the House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity on the impact of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) and ultra-processed foods (UPFs), on a healthy diet and their effect on health outcomes passed this Monday, on April 8th 2024.
The committee aimed to explore how changes in consumer behavior, and food formulation contribute to obesity, the influence of government policies on these changes, and the contributions of the industry and the general public to public health.
Some of the oral evidence is already published and include contributions by the industry, academics, and third sector organisations.
Key contributors include:
Dr. Chris van Tulleken (MD¹, Associate professor at UCL² and author of “Ultra-Processed People”)
Henry Dimbelby MBE (Co-founder of “Leon” restaurants and “Chef in Schools”, lead non-executive board member of DEFRA³, and author of the independent reviews “National Food Strategy“ and “School Food plan“ and the book “Ravenous“)
Prof. Tim Spector OBE (Professor of genetic epidemiology and director of the TwinsUK registry at King’s College London, scientific co-founder of Zoe Nutrition, and author of “The diet myth”, “Identically different“, “Spoon-fed“ and “Food for Life“)
Prof. Carlos A. Monteiro (Professor of Nutrition and Public Health and chair of the Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition at University of Sao Paulo, member of the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group and the Science Advisory Committee of the International Obesity Task Force, Co-founder of the NOVA classification)
Dr. Kevin Hall (Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Health, Researcher of the bidirectional relationship between food environment and individual eating behaviour)
Third-sector organisations like Soil Association, First Steps Nutrition Trust, Sustain, Food Foundation, and Obesity Health Alliance
Our own contribution addresses several issues, including main factors driving the increase in obesity rates, the comparison of different harmful food product categories, and the role of the food and drink industry and policy-makers in shaping the present food environment.
You can read our complete response here.
Glossary:
¹ Medical doctor
² University College London
³ Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs