Food Standards Changes Slammed

A leading health charity has accused the government of caving in to the food industry by planning to scrap the Food Standards Agency and allowing manufacturers to fund the Change4Life healthy eating campaign.

Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke said last week that the UK Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, risks abandoning children to the manipulation of the junk food giants.

"It makes no sense to abolish a major line of defence against unhealthy eating and at the same time appoint the crisp and chocolate manufacturers as guardians of dietary advice to the nation," said Andrew Dougal, the charity's Chief Executive.

"It's like asking the tobacco manufacturers to run No Smoking Day."

NI Chest Heart & Stroke was one of a number of health bodies to campaign in the 1980s and 1990s for the establishment of an organisation to advise the public on safe food and empower people to make healthy eating choices.

Now it said the government risks reversing all the advances that have been made in terms of food labelling and reducing the amount of sugar and salt in processed food.

"Without the Food Standards Agency and a truly independent healthy eating campaign, the pressure on the food firms to do the right thing will simply disappear," said Mr Dougal.

"If the government thinks the food manufacturers will put the health of children before their own profits, it's either in the pocket of the industry or naive beyond belief."

Mr Dougal also criticised plans to overhaul the structure of the NHS.

"While we agree that bureaucracy must be reduced," he said, "the health service has been subjected to far too many reorganisations in the past 30 years.

"This work should be undertaken by a Royal Commission, which would be both expert and authoritative. Unlike the politicians, it would not be driven by dogma or by a rash faith in quick and easy solutions."

(BMcC/KMcA)