09 Nov 2018 Position Statement: Health Harms of High Street Giveaways
Food Active has prepared a new position statement to highlight the health harms associated with high street giveaways of foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
The statement aims to frame the issue with these giveaway events, provide a brief review of the evidence, current policy context and our position/action on to address the issue. We are publishing this statement to support calls to restrict the number of pop up events and sampling tours promoting high in fat, sugar and/or salt products, that visit our towns and cities across the North West throughout the year.
The most notorious example is the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour, of which embarks on it’s 38-stop journey across the UK today in Glasgow to promote its products to children, young people and families during the festive period. However, the ‘Classic Coca-Cola’ which is handed out is particularly high in sugar – a 150 ml can of standard Coca-Cola containing 15.9 g of sugar—nearly four teaspoons, which almost accounts for a young child. However, we know that these type of giveaways do not just happen at Christmas, but all year round. In our position statement, we consider whether it is really appropriate to be promoting unhealthy food and drink products on our high streets, given the stark levels of childhood obesity and poor oral health across many areas of the North West.
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Position Statement: Health Harms of High Street Giveaways