Guardian Report Criticizes Industry Involvement in UK Health Policy

The Guardian has published an exclusive exposé claiming that fast-food
companies and other industry interests helped write U.K. health policy at the
behest of the secretary of state for health. According to the November 12,
2010, article, “In an overhaul of public health, said by campaign groups to be
the equivalent of handing smoking policy over to the tobacco industry, health
secretary Andrew Lansley has set up five ‘responsibility deal’ networks with
business, co-chaired by ministers, to come up with policies.” The newspaper
has anticipated that these policies will feature in “the public health white
paper due in the next month.”

Although it acknowledges the involvement of consumer groups such as Which?, Cancer Research UK and the Faculty of Public Health, the article alleges that these responsibility deal networks are “dominated by food and alcohol industry members,” including trade associations, food manufacturers, beverage companies, and fast-food restaurants. Lansley has also reportedly assured businesses “that he wants to explore voluntary not regulatory approaches, and to support them in removing obstacles,” such as contentious EU legislation.

Meanwhile, liver specialist Sir Ian Gilmore has publicly criticized the proceedings, telling the Guardian that “he doubted whether there could be ‘a meaningful convergence between the interests of industry and public health since the priority of the drinks industry was to make money for shareholders while public health demanded a cut in consumption.’” A member of the alcohol responsibility deal network, Gilmore also noted that, “On food labeling we have listened too much to the supermarkets rather than going for traffic lights [warnings] which health experts recommend.”

The article further criticizes Lansley for allowing “the food, alcohol, advertising
and retail industries” to control an oversight board charged with monitoring
the responsibility deal networks. “This is the equivalent of putting the
tobacco industry in charge of smoke-free spaces,” a spokesperson for the food
campaign group Sustain is quoted as saying. “We know this ‘let’s all get round
the table approach’ doesn’t work, because we’ve all tried it before, including
the last Conservative government. This isn’t ‘big society,’ it’s big business.”