The food industry can be part of the solution

Those who say industry has no role to play in promoting positive public health solutions - including everyone from the public health academics seeking to justify their existence and secure that next research grant, to media savvy commercially inclined nutritionists, and even those who occasionally write about sugar - all have one thing in common, they are better at playing the blame game than they are at matching industry in offering credible solutions to serious problems.

Such critics should consider the negative impact that their sometimes ill-informed, mostly obstructionist, and always antagonistic approach may be having on the debate. In recent times it has been mainly industry driving change when it comes to how consumers interpret, use and assess the health and nutritional benefits of our products.

One example of industry input is the recently announced, Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative which provides a framework for food and beverage companies to help promote healthy dietary choices and lifestyles to Australian children. This initiative, developed by the industry, sees a new requirement for companies to abide by a set of core principles that ensures industry only advertises healthy products and lifestyles during designated children’s TV programming.

The initiative covers advertising on free-to-air television, pay television, the internet, the use of licensed characters, and publications aimed at children. It will be underpinned by a transparent compliance program and a public complaints mechanism. Leading food companies have already made publicly available individual company action plan that spells out what they will advertise and how they will advertise it.

Another example?

We have headed advice that shows many people in the community do not understand what they are putting in their mouth and how that fits in with their broader nutritional requirements. That is why the food industry, without any prompting from government or our critics, has developed a front of pack labelling scheme which assists consumers in shaping a more balanced diet.

Daily Intake Guide labelling gives information about what is in a single serve of a product on the front of the pack - where it’s easier to read - and helps by placing this information in the context of an individual’s overall dietary requirements. Rather than just simply saying there are good food and bad foods, the daily intake approach helps consumers construct a nutritious balanced diet based on variety and moderation. Daily intake labelling currently appears on more than 1,000 product lines available in Australia and has the support of nutritionists, food scientists, retailers, and most importantly consumers.

The response from our critics to public health issues relating to diet, nutrition, and advertising is simple: regulate, regulate, regulate. However, much like the Prime Minister’s recently announced bank guarantee, regulation often has unintended consequences.

The point I seek to make is that it is easy to play the blame game, but finding credible solutions to serious problems is much harder, and credible solutions to serious public health problems harder again.

The food industry is the first to acknowledge that some of the gravest preventable health issues facing the 21st century stem from the way people view and consume food and beverage products. Equally important, though, is providing solutions to these problems. Iconic brands and food companies have well established networks, brand recognition and integrity already in place, the likes of which cannot be bought overnight by an overzealous public health advocate preaching from a soapbox.

In industry’s opinion it is better to have everyone, including our critics, inside the tent. The food industry is already seeking to change how we respond to the way our products are viewed, used and in some cases abused, and in addition, we are seeking to actively work with governments and third parties to form long lasting, constructive alliances.

Health and well being of the community is no longer just an idle concept to which company CEOs, working on their bottom-line, pay lip service to, but rather an ideal to be upheld and promoted as a new way of doing business. It is in this tradition that industry want feels that it is can provide solutions to these intractable problems. We know that we can’t do it alone, but until others take their seats at the table with us we will be forced to.