Food Industry Tells Lobby Groups To Get It Right

Food Industry Group Tells Lobby Groups To Get It Right

The Food Industry Group has taken exception to the continual slagging off of the food industry by some lobby groups around the obesity issue.

The Group’s Executive Director Vicki Hamilton, who is also a nutritionist, says the Industry has become the whipping boy for those pushing for strong regulations around what foods are or are not available.

“We have been accused of doing nothing and that is absolute rubbish,” she said.

All the Group’s members were making changes to their foods. Thousands of tonnes of fat, sugar and salt had been taken out of the food supply. Millions of dollars had been spent on reformulating foods, creating smaller serving sizes, developing new products, offering healthier options, creating more responsible marketing policies and employing more nutritionists. Food companies are continuing to make tremendous efforts to provide healthier foods for consumers, she said.

“Some of the lobby groups appear, however, to find it much easier to attack food companies rather than look at all of the other causes of obesity. “Why are they not highlighting all of the other factors - and there are many - including lack of exercise?”

Hamilton said research that had just been carried out showed the major concern for household shoppers was just to put affordable food on the table.

She also noted that some of the lobby groups were using a simplistic regulatory tobacco model and trying to adapt it to food. “ Every cigarette is bad for you but a piece of chocolate or a hamburger can be part of a healthy diet and not make you fat,” she said

“Unfortunately, these lobby groups don’t seem to want to take on board all the positive things that are being achieved and all the progress being made and it is time they did.”

ENDS

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