Labour would limit fat, salt and sugar in children’s food, says Andy Burnham
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Version 0 of 1. Labour would look at introducing a mandatory limit on fat, salt and sugar in children’s food, the shadow health secretary has said. Andy Burnham said more radical action needed to be considered as the “status quo simply isn’t working”. The MP for Leigh also voiced support for making referrals for physical activity available in all GP surgeries. He told Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News: “I think if people become more physically active then they get more control over what they are eating and what they are drinking and all the other things. I think also the time has come to look at the food industry. I’ve said many times, I just cannot defend the amount of sugar that children are eating. We’ve seen more and more sugar built in to our food over time.” Asked if he could see the NHS bringing in cash payments from NHS funds to encourage people to lose weight, he said he was “not sure about that” but that “radical action in this area” was needed. Burnham said it was refreshing that the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, had talked “more seriously about prevention than perhaps we’ve seen NHS leaders do before”. He said Stevens was “absolutely right”, adding: “That has to be part of our overall plan to make the NHS sustainable.” |