The unhealthiest UPFs should come with tobacco-style warning labels and have a ban on marketing to young children, says Dr. Chris van Tulleken

Britain’s unhealthiest processed foods should come with tobacco-style warning labels and a marketing ban on young children, according to an expert.

Chris van Tulleken, an infectious disease doctor and author of ‘Ultra-Processed People’, said current food labeling systems are ‘ineffective’ and ‘misleading’ to consumers.

Instead, he recommends placing specific warning labels on foods that are high in salt, fat, sugar or calories.

This includes soft drinks, sweets, all salty and sugary snacks and many breakfast cereals.

And he argues that manufacturers should not be allowed to market these products to children, use cartoon characters in advertising or make a health claim about them.

The current food labeling system includes the traffic light scheme, which uses green, orange and red colors to indicate how a food scores against certain dietary guidelines.

However, critics argue that there are no strict regulations regarding its use, that they may not accurately reflect the overall nutritional value of a product, and that there may be a general lack of understanding among the public about what it means.

There are also some advertising restrictions targeting foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), but these can be circumvented if a product has other properties, such as containing vegetables or protein.

“Traffic lights are misleading,” said Dr. Van Tulleken. ‘They are voluntary, separate from national dietary guidelines and are not effective.

‘Manufacturers can stick three green traffic lights on the side of your sugar-sweetened cola to make it look like it’s 75 percent healthy.

‘These traffic lights and HFSS advertising rules have been in use for more than a decade and during that time we have seen a steady increase in the number of diet-related illnesses in children and adults.

“So they don’t work.”

While he is not advocating images of cancer patients on packaging – as cigarette boxes sometimes do – he is advocating a system similar to that used in South America, particularly Chile and Mexico, where black octagonal symbols appear on the front visible on the packaging. certain food packages.

These warning symbols indicate that the product contains ‘excess’ sugar, calories, salt or saturated fat.

“Once a product has a black octagon, it cannot have a cartoon character, it cannot have a health claim and it cannot be marketed to a child,” Dr Van Tulleken said.

‘It may not be sold in a school or hospital. It cannot be served in a prison.

“Octagons are probably where we’re going. Unless we start with an approach that takes this stance, we won’t get anywhere.

‘The approach should be to say: ‘We have a terrible crisis, an emergency that needs to be solved, and we need to think about radical solutions.’

‘Until we think about regulating the industry, we won’t see a huge change.

‘These regulations must be implemented carefully, in a way that allows the industry to reformulate products and bring them into line with nutritional guidelines.’

He also argued that a sugar tax – already introduced on sugar-sweetened drinks – should also be applied to sweets.

A junk food advertising ban recently announced by Labor means that from October next year it will be illegal to advertise ‘less healthy’ food and drink on TV before the 9pm watershed and at any time online.

However, the government’s own impact assessment shows that only two calories a day are likely to be cut from children’s diets – equivalent to less than a tenth of a Jelly Baby. Critics have pointed out that the ban applies to oatmeal porridge and crumpets, but not to fatty sausage rolls. and cakes.

A recent study found that toddlers in Britain get almost half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), rising to 59 percent by the age of seven.

Researchers from University College London warned that highly processed foods, which often contain excessive amounts of salt and sugar, are often cheaper than fruit and vegetables.

Analysis found that the most common UPFs that 21-month-old toddlers ate were flavored yogurt and whole grain cereal.

Meanwhile, among seven-year-olds, sweet breakfast cereals, white bread and pudding were the most common.

Dr. Van Tulleken’s comments come ahead of the Royal Institute’s Christmas lectures, which he will give this year.

During the lectures, aimed at young people aged 11 to 17, he explores the importance of our gut microbiome – the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria present in our intestines – and how what we eat has shaped our evolution.

The lectures will be broadcast on BBC4 and iPlayer on December 29, 30 and 31 at 9pm.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: ‘Every child deserves a healthy, happy start to life.

‘This government is now taking action to put an end to the targeting of junk food advertisements at children, both on TV and online. This is the first step in achieving a major shift in the focus of healthcare from disease to prevention through our 10-year health plan.

‘We are also restricting children’s access to fast food, giving local authorities the power to block requests for unhealthy takeaways near schools and reviewing the Soft Drink Industry Levy to ensure it remains effective in tackling obesity and other harms caused by a high sugar intake. ‘

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drink Federation said: ‘Food and drink manufacturers have a legal obligation to provide accurate nutritional information on their packaging.

‘The UK traffic light system is the government’s recommended approach to helping people understand what’s in their food, and is based on government-set criteria.

‘The traffic light system provides clear information about what is ‘high’ content for certain nutrients, such as fat, salt and sugar, and what is ‘low’.

‘Research shows that color-coded systems are the most effective design for nutrition labels. But given the current traffic light system was introduced 20 years ago, we would support a government inquiry into the latest evidence on how nutrition labeling can best help consumers make healthier choices.”