THE GUARDIAN: Health secretary sets out 'national ambition' to cut 5bn calories a day from Britons' daily diet
Andrew Lansley's announcement of a push to get the nation to cut 5bn calories a day from its diet was immediately slammed by health experts on Thursday, and branded "worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish" by Jamie Oliver.
Faced with a mounting obesity crisis that a succession of government initiatives on exercise have failed to turn around, the health secretary and the chief medical officer, Sally Davies, issued a "call to action" on diet, pointing out that alcohol contributed 10% to our calorie intake.
Lansley urged individuals to eat less and eat more wisely, and promised to talk to the food industry about voluntary cuts in the calorie content of processed food and drinks.
But the new plan, which Lansley termed a "national ambition" rather than a strategy, drew immediate derision from food campaigners and doctors. "Simply telling people what they already know – that they need to eat less and move more – is a complete cop-out," said Oliver.
The TV chef and food campaigner added: "This whole strategy is just worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish.
"Any of us could walk into any primary school in the country and find plenty of eight-year-olds with more creative solutions to these problems. It's a farce." He called for the government to make real change and then legislate and finance it. » | Sarah Boseley, health editor | Thursday, October 13, 2011
