A new survey has revealed that the majority of British adults would not support tobacco-style restrictions on food products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt.
Conducted by YouGov, on behalf of SPQR Communications, 2,000 people were quizzed on their views on a variety of potential future restrictions – including mandatory health warnings on packs, full-on plain packaging, and the removal of brand generated characters.
It comes as proposals to restrict the advertisement and promotion of food products high in fat, sugar, and salt are expected later this year in a bid to tackle childhood obesity. Recent research from the University of Glasgow found that obesity is a bigger killer than smoking in Scotland and England.
However, the study found that only 11% of people believe restrictions on packaging would have a significant impact on their purchasing decisions, with 47% saying that plain packaging would have no impact on their purchasing decisions, and 47% also disagreeing that products should carry mandatory health warnings.
Despite this, 44% of respondents said they would support the removal of brand-generated characters from products high in fat, sugar, and salt in order to make them less appealing to children.
Michael Coppen-Gardner, Md of SPQR Communications, commented, “The playbook that was developed for tobacco control has been repurposed and applied to the new enemy of our times – obesity. From the soft drinks levy in 2018 to the recommendations of Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy in 2021, interventionism is becoming the de facto approach for tackling obesity. But our research raises an important question for policymakers – namely, how effective will anti-obesity measures be if they are out of step with public opinion?
“We risk going backwards if the government continues down this path. The public aren’t on board with these measures – in fact, our YouGov survey suggests we’ve already reached the boundary of public tolerance with the proposed advertising and promotion restrictions. Instead, we need new ideas that align public health objectives with public opinion. On few topics is that more important than when it comes to the food we eat.”
