CFC Food Heroes and Food Zeroes of 2015

Food Heroes

We send a hearty ‘Thank you!’ to the following for their efforts in 2015 to improve children’s health:

Jamie Oliver
Nobody has done more this year to bring the issue of sugar reduction to the public’s attention than Jamie Oliver.  His Sugar Rush documentary hit the sweet spot, and he followed it up with the campaigning spirit and media savviness that are his hallmarks. Our joint petition was signed by over 150,000 people and opened parliamentary doors. It has been a pleasure working with him and his team on progressing the case for a sugary drinks tax and for stronger marketing restrictions.  And it’s also noteworthy that Jamie practises what he preaches: his restaurants were the first to introduce a voluntary levy on sugary drinks, with the revenue going to the Children’s Health Fund, now managed by Sustain and overseen by an independent board of public health experts. 

Public Health England
The government’s scientific advisors on nutrition stuck to their guns despite industry pressure and halved the recommended daily maximum amount of energy we should get from free sugars (added sugar plus that found naturally in honey, syrups and fruit juice). Public Health England itself has become much more vocal on advocating robust sugar reduction strategies. And our fears that their long-awaited evidence review of marketing and fiscal measures would be watered down proved unfounded. In fact, Public Health England obesity director Dr Alison Tedstone marshalled the evidence and arguments together to produce a compelling account of where government action is needed.

Health Select Committee 
Having given evidence in front of this parliamentary Health Select Committee, we have first-hand knowledge of their desire for getting quickly to the heart of an issue, and making a political impact.  And that’s what they did with their inquiry this autumn into childhood obesity, tenaciously led by their chair, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP.  The Committee’s report, with its message that “brave and bold action” is required, and its recommendations on a pre-9pm TV junk food ad ban, online marketing restrictions, and a sugary drinks tax, will now be what MPs judge the Prime Minister’s imminent childhood obesity strategy against.

Honourable mentions in the political world go to all the MPs who spoke in favour of a sugary drinks tax in the parliamentary debate on 30 November. Plus former health ministers Dan Poulter, Stephen Dorrell, Alan Johnson and Ben Bradshaw, who also came out in support. And the Welsh Assembly, who voted in favour of exploring the introduction of a duty in Wales.

Marks & Spencer, and Morrisons
2015 saw continued success for our junk free checkouts campaign.  M&S made the move this September to remove all less healthy options, including Percy Pig jellies, from the checkouts and queuing aisles in all their stores (excluding in stations/airports).  Morrisons has also pledged to do the same, though the process won’t be complete until February 2016.  The days of the ‘supermarket sugar trap’ may finally be numbered.

The medical and public health professions and charities
United we stand. The public health community has come together in an unprecedented way in the fight against obesity and its costly consequences for the NHS.  The new anti-obesity alliance of Medical Colleges and health charities (including us) has cemented this with common policy goals, including on robust restrictions on unhealthy food marketing and a sugary drinks tax. We are seeing the fruits of this in the coordinated approach to the pre-consultation phase of the Committee on Advertising Practice’s review of non-broadcast marketing rules.

Free School Meal campaigners
Last year was all about celebrating the successes of the School Food Plan. This year has been more focused on ensuring those achievements continue – especially universal infant free school meals.  There was a real threat that the funding for this would be withdrawn, to save the Department for Education money.  But the same amazing coalition that had campaigned for the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM), stepped up to save them. We co-ordinated a wave of joint letters to the Sunday Times and the ensuing further media coverage and political pressure culminated in David Cameron giving his commitment to keep UIFSM at Prime Minister’s Question Time. 

British Heart Foundation
From organising the handing in of a joint petition to Downing Street, to publishing polling and other evidence, the British Heart Foundation have continued to be strong champions of the 9pm watershed for junk food ads on TV and for tightening regulations around online marketing.  We are hugely grateful for the British Heart Foundation’s continued financial support of the Children’s Food Campaign.
 
Maria Mantzorou, Devi Joshi, Masooda Canfield, Rab Brownell and Lauren Dammacco
Our amazing 2015 Children’s Food Campaign volunteers have produced much of the background research which underpins our reports, consultation submissions and campaigns. They also help with the behind-the-scenes projects and admin that keep the Children’s Food Campaign show on the road, and online. A big personal thanks to each of them.

Kye Viney
The teenager got so fed up with being bombarded by marketing for energy drinks and sugary snacks, that he was inspired to cycle around Holland to raise funds for the Children's Food Campaign and to promote our work. Kye Viney completed the 1,500km Ronde von Nederland route with his father over several weeks in May, and raised over £500 for us to promote children’s health.  Hats (or perhaps helmets and cycle clips) off to him for such an impressive feat!

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Food Zeroes

We send the message ‘Shape up!’ to the following for failing to do their best in 2015 to improve children’s health:

Food and Drink Federation
It’s the food manufacturers’ trade body that have been fronting up industry opposition to a 9pm junk food TV watershed, to mandatory reformulation and marketing restrictions, and to a sugary drinks duty. In contrast, retailers – and their trade body, the British Retail Consortium – have taken a much more nuanced and receptive stance, recognising that government-led initiatives to create a level playing field are needed to tackle obesity.  However, our pressure is starting to tell on even the Food and Drink Federation, whose members include manufacturers of sugar, biscuits and confectionery. They have finally conceded that marketing rules should be changed to stop less healthy food and drink from being advertised to under-16s online. 

Heinz
If producing highly sugary ‘baby biscotti’ (posh rusks) wasn’t bad enough, Heinz chose to market then as “healthy snacks” and as an appropriate and healthy food to give to babies. We disagreed and complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, who upheld our complaint.  However, the wording changes Heinz then made on their marketing were merely cosmetic, and similar claims on their packaging remain unchanged.   

And a special mention to confectionery and sugary cereal giant Nestlé, who continue to test the spirit and letter of the marketing rules in how they promote their flavoured sugar-powder (aka Nesquik).  

Confectionery companies
Swizzels Matlow, Chewits, Chupa Chups, Oreo, Haribo, Starburst and Kinder were some of the most persistent offenders this year for using websites and social media to promote their products to children. Special dishonourable mention should also go to Universal Pictures for allowing so many Minions tie-ins on less healthy products, including sugary cereals and drinks as well as sweets. We’ll see if Star Wars is any better.

Coca Cola
It’s been a year which started with us handing out toothbrushes outside the newly rebranded Coca Cola London Eye and ended with us dressed as tooth fairies dancing around one of the Coca Cola Christmas trucks, on its tour of cities around the UK.  In-between, we’ve had broken promises about ‘heroing (Coke) Zero’ at the Rugby World Cup and seen the company’s marketing machine go into overdrive to push messages of ‘choice’ and ‘happiness’ that  allow it to keep on pushing its sugary variants just as hard.  

The tobacco industry
Is sugar the new tobacco? Well, the tobacco industry certainly seems to think there’s some connection. They are funding several anti-regulation front groups, as well as ideologically-driven think-tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs, who often appear in the media defending industry inaction and opposing many of the measures the evidence suggests might be most effective in reducing sugar consumption and obesity.

 

With the Government’s childhood obesity strategy due out in January, we look forward to continued opportunities for campaigning fun and success in 2016. 

Best wishes for a happy Christmas and New Year.

Malcolm
Coordinator, Children’s Food Campaign