Spearheading healthier eating

Thursday 5 October 2006

The Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health have established a Nutrition Strategy Steering Group (NSSG), jointly chaired by FSA Chair, Deirdre Hutton and Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint.

Bringing together key representatives from industry, consumer and health groups, the NSSG will help drive forward health improvement through diet and nutrition policies including those set out in the Choosing Health white paper.

Following the first meeting, the group agreed to focus on taking forward the (FSA's) commitment to independently assess nutritional front of pack labelling schemes. The NSSG agreed the research objective was 'to evaluate the impact of front-of-pack signpost labelling schemes on purchasing behaviour and consumer knowledge'.

The key voluntary initiatives the NSSG will be considering are:

• reformulation of foodstuffs : making convenience foods healthier, mainstreaming the healthier options
• front-of-pack signpost labelling: providing 'at a glance' nutritional information on levels of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in food
• promotion of food to children: working to achieve changes in the way food is promoted, encouraging the promotion of healthy foods and healthier alternatives
• The Healthy Living Social Marketing Campaign: tackling obesity through a combination of increased physical activity and the promotion of a balanced diet

Members of the NSSG are as follows - from industry, consumer groups and health NGOs:

• Gavin Neath, President of the Food and Drink Federation and Unilever
• Salman Amin, President of PepsiCo UK & Ireland
• David Reid, President of the Institute of Grocery Distribution and Chair of Tesco plc
• Steven D Esom, Managing Director of Waitrose
• Paul Kelly, Compass and the Schools Food Trust
• Sir Alexander Macara, Chair of the National Heart Forum
• Peter Vicary-Smith, Chief Executive of Which?
• Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury's
• Lord Whitty, Chair of the National Consumer Council

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said: 'Food manufacturers, retailers and representatives of the third sector have a key role to play in helping people make positive steps towards a healthy lifestyle.

'This group represents a high level commitment across industry and government to ensure the action we take to help people make healthy living choices has the greatest impact.'

Food Standards Agency Chair Deirdre Hutton, said: 'Working in partnership is vital to achieving our shared goal of improving the health of our nation. The NSSG will provide a valuable platform from which we can agree a co-ordinated approach to making healthier eating easier.

'Setting up independent research to assess front of pack nutritional labelling schemes is the NSSG's first task - the results of which will provide a clear way forward for both Government and industry on this issue.'