If the industry fails to implement the changes voluntarily, the Government will consider “whether alternative levers need to be used”.
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Officials believe a combination of tackling sugar content in certain foods, using money from the “sugar tax” to change attitudes and increase physical exercise, and insuring primary school children carry out at least an hour of exercise a day will help reduce obesity rates in England.
“Today’s plan was published by the UK Government but there is much more that could be done in Scotland”.
“We need co-ordinated global initiatives like looking at the price of healthy food compared to unhealthy food, or taxing high sugar and highly processed foods to tackle this crisis”.
Also central to the plan is the previously announced sugar tax on soft drinks that will come into force from 2018.
“The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has a responsibility to advocate on behalf of infants, children and young people; for their sake we call on Government to revisit their “plan” and turn it into the powerful, effective multi-sectoral strategy that is so necessary”.
But anti-sugar activists expressed their dismay this morning, as they claim the crackdown does not almost go far enough.
Spoonful of sugar- Should government dictate our diet?
Last year Public Health England called for a ban on sugary products at tills and an end to junk food advertising targeted at children.
Has the strategy been “watered down”?
Dr Wollaston – who is chairwoman of the health select committee – said it was “really disappointing” that “whole sections from the original draft have been dropped”, including measures on advertising junk food to children and on promotions such as two-for-one deals.
But the strategy, which applies to England, shies away from tough action and instead relies on voluntary agreements with the industry to reduce sugar content.
The obesity strategy has been introduced because almost a third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese.
“However, apart from the sugary drinks tax, they have failed to get off the starting blocks”.
But Jane Ellison, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said the plan was the “most ambitious programme of reformulation that any developed country has taken”.
The new strategy was criticised after it opted for industry self-regulation as opposed to stricter restrictions on advertising and promotions.
“We already have a £5 billion bill every year for diabetes and complex problems that can follow on from this disgusting, chronic disease”. “We will measure progress carefully and are not ruling out further action if results are not seen”.
Writing on Facebook, celebrity chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver, said the government’s strategy was “disappointing, and frankly, underwhelming”.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said its recommendations to give councils the power to ban junk food advertising near schools and require calorie counts on menus in chain restaurants haven’t been taken forward.
“But it was not supported by the Industry Forum Group that contributed to the development of the ChOP”, he says.
Even Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe described the strategy as a “first step”, warning that a far more wide-ranging approach was needed.
Health campaigners have branded the childhood obesity action plan an “unforgivable missed opportunity”, while the Government argued there was no “silver bullet” to overcoming the issue.
The Food and Drink Federation said the soft drinks industry was already making progress to reduce the quantity of sugar in their products.
The PHRD sought to reduce the levels of fat, sugar and salt in food by reformulation by voluntary action by the industry.
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“It is becoming abundantly clear that replacing a critical ingredient of a product, or single nutrient in a diet, is neither an easy process for food companies nor a successful obesity strategy”, she said.
