New research assessing the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy has revealed that the proposals would be far more drastic than most politicians realise. The proposals advocate severe restrcitions on the advertising, sale, display, and affordability of what campaigners call ‘junk food.’ But there is no legal definition of junk food…

The Government instead takes ‘junk food’ to mean all food that is ‘high in fat, sugar, and salt’ (HFSS food as defined by the Nutrient Profiling Model). This includes raisins, sultanas, most tinned fruit, most yoghurts, nearly all cheese (including half-fat cheese), cream crackers, tomato soup, hummus, ham, pesto, cereal bars, pure orange juice, olive bread, salami, many pasta sauces, butter, margarine, more than half of all meat, and one in every four sandwiches. Not exactly the bargain buckets that come to mind when the word ‘junk food’ is mentioned…

Under the Government’s proposals, all of these items (some of which are even recommended by the NHS as healthy ‘sugar swaps’) will be subject to pricing, promotion and advertising restrictions, a 9pm broadcast advertising ban, a ban on price promotions like meal deals and buy-one-get-one-free, and a display ban at shop entrances, checkouts and at the end of aisles. The Government’s bonkers strategy leaves us sleepwalking towards a miserable nannying tasteless future…