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NEW VOLUNTARY CODES of Practice for the advertising and marketing of food and non-alcoholic drinks have received a string of mixed reactions today.
The new Codes, which have been agreed with the food industry and apply to non-broadcast media, aim to ensure that foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) are marketed in a responsible way.
The Department of Health said that the Codes seek to ensure that children are not exposed to inappropriate marketing, advertising or sponsorship associated with these kinds of foods and drink products and that healthier food choices are actively promoted.
The Codes, launched by Minister of State for Health Promotion Catherine Byrne, include an agreement on the reduction of advertising, marketing and sponsorship of HFSS.
Retail Ireland has also agreed to increase its promotion – via product placement and in-store promotions – of healthier options.
The initiative is a government response to the rise in obesity levels in Ireland, and is part of the National Obesity Policy and Action Plan.
Minister Byrne said the purpose of the Codes is to “reduce the exposure of children to unhealthy foods” and “to moderate the exposure of the general population to foods high in HFSS”.
“These Codes of Practice represent an opportunity to discourage unhealthy food consumption choices and patterns which can contribute to ill health, overweight and obesity, and chronic disease,” she said.
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Some concern has been raised about the voluntary nature of the new Codes.
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan hit out at the Department of Health, claiming that the voluntary model has “already failed in every country it has been tried in”.
“Ireland cannot afford to waste more time implementing failed policies while our childhood obesity problem continues to get worse,” Boylan said.
State-funded research estimates that 85,000 children on the island of Ireland will prematurely die to overweight and obesity. The introduction of a voluntary code rather than a mandatory legislation will not do anything to help the situation – it will only delay real action on the issue.
Boylan called on the government to offer alternative legislation which would penalise those who breach the Codes.
The Codes of Practice were created over a 15-month period in consultation with various sectors including IBEC, Food Drink Ireland, Retail Ireland, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland, amongst others.
Despite Boylan’s concerns of today’s announcement, Food Drink Ireland welcomed the publication of the Codes.
“Food and beverage companies are committed to responsible marketing and supporting the implementation of related recommendations in [the action plan]. The focus now has to be on effective implementation,” Paul Kelly, director of Food Drink Ireland said.
Kelly called on Minister Byrne to quickly bring together the key participants to develop the promised technical guidance document that advertisers, rights owners, media outlets and advertising practitioners now needed to bring the Codes to life.
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Hard to believe that children die from obesity, but that’s the truth. Poor children are those that are given processed food for dinner, and are not provided with home cooked meals every day.
“Minister Byrne said the purpose of the Codes is to “reduce the exposure of children to unhealthy foods” and “to moderate the exposure of the general population to foods high in HFSS”
The only way to do this is to take them all off the shelves of the food stores. Outside of that, the parents are going to have to read the nutrional and ingredient labels, and teach their children to do the same. Perhaps teaching children about nutrion, and how to read nutritional and ingredient labels on food should be part of school curriculum. Let’s face it… much of a child’s life is spent in the classroom. Schools need to take some responsibility for this.
Minister Byrne, is it? Why not Catherine, since we are supposed to be a Republic? Thankfully we’re spared the likes of Taoiseach Veradkar, Tánaist Coveny, or bus-driver Reilly or street-sweeper Hanlon etc. – well for the time being, anyway. This replacing first name with Minister is overly and inappropriately deferential by the media, and obsequious by anyone, regardless of who they are.
@Neuville-Kepler62F: did you know that when food is deep fried even in sunflower oil the fat in the food is transformed into teams fat. Hse dietician told me that.
Sugar ie. processed carbohydrates (pasta bread crackers crisps cakes biscuits etc.)=shit
Fat ie. fish nuts avocado olives coconut oil heavy cream real butter cheese etc. = good
Protein ie. Meat fish nuts etc.= good
Natural carbohydrates ie. Potato’s ,brown rice , root vegetables etc. = semi ok
Lots of water = good
Simple
How can any organisation with a big profit motive sell responsible food labelling to their share holders? Simple label is a traffic man system. Red yellow green men. The red man could be rotund.
is it only sf who raised concerns? seems like the journal report alot on what sf have to say on matters but if it is the only party raising concerns, fair enough.
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