FSA changes are bad news for children's health

Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement today that responsibility for nutrition policy will transfer from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to the Department of Health, Charlie Powell, Director of the Children's Food Campaign stated:

“This is bad news for children's health. The FSA has a good track record of addressing issues that protect children's health, for example commissioning the research that showed, beyond doubt, that junk food advertising influences what children eat.  This helped introduce the Ofcom controls that protect children from junk food ads on children's TV that were hotly contested by the junk food industry.”

“Given the Government's keenness to involve the food industry in health promotion, it is not surprising that the Food and Drink Federation has welcomed the decision to move nutrition policy back to a Government Department.  The truth is that the food industry has repeatedly fought consumer-friendly policies such as traffic light labelling and reducing salt in processed food which were championed by the FSA.”

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For further information and interviews, please contact Charlie Powell on 0203 5596 777 or charlie@sustainweb.org.

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Notes to editors:

1. The Children's Food Campaign wants to improve children's health and well-being through better food - and food teaching - in schools, and protecting children from junk food marketing. We are supported by over 150 national organisations. The Children's Food Campaign is coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming and funded by the British Heart Foundation.  For more information please go to: http://www.childrensfoodcampaign.org.uk/
2. For more information about the changes to the Food Standards Agency announced today, see: www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/jul/fsachanges
3. In 2003, the FSA commissioned an independent review of evidence which established the link between the promotion of foods and children's eating behaviour, available at: www.food.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/2003/sep/foodtochildren
4. Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley announced in his speech to the Faculty of Public Health on 7th July 2010, that business will be encouraged to fund the Government's Change4Life health promotion programme.  See: www.sustainweb.org/news/july_2010_lansley_business_backing/
5. The Food and Drink Federation says that it is the “voice of the UK food and drink industry”. For its response to the changes to the FSA announced today, see: http://www.fdf.org.uk/news.aspx?article=5015&newsindexpage=1
6. For more about the FSA's work on traffic light labelling and salt reduction, see: http://www.food.gov.uk/foodlabelling/signposting/ and http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/salt/strategy
7. For a report on a food industry lobbying campaign to defeat a European parliament vote on traffic light labelling on 16th June 2010, see: www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/16/meps-reject-traffic-light-food-labelling
8. For details of the insufficient progress made on the reduction of salt in processed foods, refer to news released by Consensus Action on Salt and Health at: http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/media/recent_press_releases.htm