Health and social care secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has unveiled the next phase of the Government’s Obesity Plan which includes new measures such as preventing stores from displaying unhealthy food at checkouts or including it in buy-one-get-one-free deals.
The Department of Health and Social Care will consult on introducing clear, consistent calorie labelling on menus in restaurants, cafes and takeaways, so parents can make an informed choice about what their families are eating. The department will also consult on banning the sale of energy drinks to children.
In addition, the government is calling on industry to recognise the harm that adverts for foods high in fat, sugar and salt can cause. It will consult on introducing new TV and online advertising restrictions to prevent children from being targeted by unhealthy products and to incentives companies to reduce the sugar and calories in the products they sell.