Is plain packaging on food coming?

Obesity is now recognised as a major heal issue both individually and to our whole country. The simple answer is to reduce the amount going in or to use more of what is going in. This means that people should be careful with what and how much they eat, as well as do enough exercise in a day to burn up extra kilojoules.

However, the lifestyle and incredible food choice that developed countries have, makes this simple solution difficult for many.

If people could just reduce the amount they are eating, it would be a great help. However, with many of the fast food chains now offering a single meal which exceeds the total recommended daily energy intake for an adult, we have a problem.

It is also well recognised that the consumption of foods and drinks that are high in kilojoules (energy) and low in calories is making a significant contribution to the rapidly increasing obesity rate. They taste good and make us happy but are generally contributing little in terms of nutrients. A chip company in Australia has just released an extension to it’s range which has a much lower saturated fat content as a way of encouraging people to eat their product. The problem here is that the product itself is one of these high energy low nutrient products, so we should be eating only small amounts of them, regardless of the type of fat it may contain.

It is products like this that are now under the spotlight as potentially having a change in packaging.

Even though there was a lot of noise when the Australian government introduced mandatory plain packaging for cigarettes, it has now been found that the rate of smoking in our population has become less. Whether it is the packaging, difficulty in getting the cigarettes in the store or the awful pictures on the packs, is yet to be determined.

However, at a recent major food industry related conference in Brisbane, the idea of putting high energy low nutrient foods into plain packaging was raised and discussed.

At the end of the discussion, it was agreed that as information is needed about foods, this idea is likely to be ineffective and inappropriate.

The panellists involved in the discussion came up with other ideas that may be worth pursuing by the food industry to help reduce obesity, including the following;

• Increasing the nutrient quality in all manufactured foods to reduce people looking for more food
• Increase variety to increase consumer diets
• Good regulation that is keeping up with technology and demand
• Increasing and improving basic skills like being able to cook and shop
• More Food Technologists and qualified people to develop new products and processes
• Industry, government, consumer groups and others all working together to meet set goals

This article was written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.