Action On Sugar Campaign

EDM number 931 in 2013-14, proposed by Keith Vaz on 09/01/2014.
Categorised under the topics of Diseases, Food, Health education and preventive medicine and Obesity.

That this House welcomes the launch of the Action On Sugar campaign, an unprecedented call to action to tackle and reverse the obesity and diabetes epidemic by 15 leading health experts from across the world including Professor Graham MacGregor, Dr Aseem Malholtra, Professor Andrew Rugg-Gunn, Professor Aubrey Sheiham, Professor David Haslam, Professor Jack Cuzick, Professor John Wass, Professor Peter Sever, Professor Philip James, Professor Simon Capewell, Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, Professor Timothy Lang, Dr Mike Rayner, Dr Robert Lustig and Dr Yoni Freedhoff; notes that the campaign calls for a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in sugar added by the food industry, which would result in a reduction in calorie intake of approximately 100kcal per day; recognises that unnecessary calories hidden in food and drinks are causing children and adults to become obese as well as causing dental cavities and putting people at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes; further recognises that Public Health England has warned that by 2050, 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children will be clinically obese, and that voluntary agreements with industry are failing to provide any significant changes to our nation's health; and further notes that the campaign calls on the Secretary of State for Health to take urgent action to address the twin epidemics of obesity and type-2 diabetes by abolishing the Responsibility Deal and giving public health targets back to the Food Standards Agency to enforce the recommended 20 to 30 per cent reduction in added sugar.

This motion has been signed by a total of 38 MPs.