Do you have ideas on how to improve food labelling in New Zealand? If so, now is the time to share them.
A panel overseeing a review of food labels in Australia and New Zealand is about to start public consultations. It has released a consultation paper and there will be two public meetings in New Zealand: Wellington on 25 March and Christchurch on 26 March. The panel will report back to the Food Regulation Ministerial Council later this year. New Zealand is represented on the Council.
Register to attend one of the meetings
Read the Food Labelling Review Issues Consultation Paper
The closing date for written submissions is 14 May 2010.
FOE feels strongly that the current system of food labelling is confusing and misleading. We support a traffic-light food labelling system. This would make it easy for busy shoppers to distinguish more healthy from less healthy food.
The review process provides the best opportunities New Zealanders are likely to have for some time to influence developments in food labelling.
The consultation paper poses a series of questions relevant to the review. First, and crucial, is
“To what extent should the food regulatory system be used to meet broader public health objectives?”
Public health is taken to include health promotion - activities designed to inhibit chronic disease by promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
An evidence-based approach is promised. So it is up to people wanting to promote public health through food labelling to draw the relevant evidence to the attention of the panel.
Read more about FOE’s position on traffic light food labelling .
Read more about the consultation: Ausfoodnews, 26 Feb 2010
Weight Watchers has done a deal with fast food chain McDonald’s to endorse some items on its menu.
FOE’s Dr Robyn Toomath says that:
“It would be great to see McDonald’s sales data from 3 or 6 months down the track. If they show a drop (in absolute terms) of fries, burgers and soft drinks we will know that people are opting for healthier food over the unhealthy items. What we anticipate however is that McDonald’s may well expand its customer base resulting in a further deterioration in the nutritional status of New Zealanders as they consume more of the unhealthy items.”
She told the NZ Herald that the move would be okay if it convinced existing McDonald’s customers to pick a less-fatty food option. But it was more likely the promotion would simply attract new customers - and thus normalise the regular eating of McDonald’s.
Professor Boyd Swinburn, from the Australian Society for the Study of Obesity at Deakin University in Melbourne, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the move was a marketing ploy.
“Make no mistake, this is about selling more burgers and fries,” he said.
Australian nutritionist Rosemary Stanton agreed, telling the paper that sales of burgers and chips soared when McDonald’s Australia ushered in its Deli Choices rolls in 2004.
“It got new people through the doors, but once they were in they bought the burgers.”
Digital Journal has a round up of comments from health and food groups
Read more: NZ Herald, 3 Mar 2010
Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Mar 2010
Read more: Stuff, 3 Mar 2010
Read more: TV3 news, 3 Mar 2010
Price discounts are more effective than nutrition education in encouraging people to buy healthier foods, according to New Zealand research.
The Supermarket Health Options Project (SHOP) study tracked the food purchases of over 1000 shoppers at eight Pak’ N Save supermarkets in the lower North Island. Half of the shoppers received price discounts of 12.5 percent on healthier foods for six months, and half received intensive, personalised nutrition education over the same time period, including tailored shopping lists, recipes and advice.
Price discounts resulted in an 11 percent increase in the amount of healthier food purchased, with two thirds of the increase attributed to fruit and vegetables. In contrast, no change in the purchase of healthier food was found for shoppers receiving nutrition education alone.
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Martin Johnson noted that the study provides support for the Māori Party push to exempt healthy foods from GST.
Read the article : American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Mar 2010 (PDF)
Read more: Media release, Auckland University/Voxy, 3 Mar 2010
Read more: NZ Herald, 4 Mar 2010