Britain may be in deep economic, social, and political trouble, but its would-be food police are still hard at work. In a recent Capital Letter, I noted the introduction of a number of new rules designed to make diners’ lives worse.
The BBC (October 1) had some details:
Price or multibuy promotions on unhealthy food and drink, such as “buy one, get one free” deals, are to be banned in England from Wednesday.
The restrictions will apply to supermarkets, larger high street shops and online retailers.
The measure has been under consideration for years but has been put off because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Ministers argue the restrictions are an important step to tackle obesity – and in particular childhood obesity.
Note that those restrictions had been under consideration “for years,” including under the Tories, when they had been promoted, by among others, Boris Johnson, the nanny state’s “libertarian” Quisling.
Note too that incomes are no less squeezed than they were a few years ago. Far from it. Too bad, I suppose.
And note the inevitable reference to “the children.”
The BBC continues:
The regulations also ban free refill promotions of certain drinks in restaurants and cafes.
It will be followed by a ban on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television before 21:00 and a complete ban on online promotions from January.
Ah yes, censorship, always censorship.
And, inevitably, “our” NHS is brought in as a justification:
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said the restrictions were a “crucial step” in giving children a healthy, happy start in life.
“Obesity robs children of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems and costs the NHS billions.”
In more recent news (via the Daily Telegraph):
Yogurts and fruit juices are to be classified as junk food as Labour faces a backlash over its “nanny state” drive to tackle obesity.
Health officials are preparing to rebadge hundreds of fruit yogurts, breakfast cereals and fruit juices as “unhealthy”, paving the way for scores of extra products to be subjected to strict red tape.
Supermarkets are expected to be blocked from putting these items at the front of their stores and near checkouts.
They are also expected to also be banned from “buy-one-get-one-free” deals and can only be advertised after 9pm. It would mean cereals such as Rice Krispies, explicitly targeted at children, could only appear on television after the watershed.
Government sources insisted the regulation would not automatically be applied to the extra products, saying it would consult businesses over the changes.
“Consult.” Sure.
But the food wars move on.
Bacon and ham sold in the UK should carry cigarette-style labels warning that chemicals in them cause bowel cancer, scientists say.
Their demand comes as they criticize successive British governments for doing “virtually nothing” to reduce the risk from nitrites in the decade since they were found to definitely cause cancer.
And then, for true labeling fans, there is this possibly trailblazing item produced by a British food company for its tuna mayonnaise sandwiches. According to Grok, the carbon score labeling depicted is genuine. It:
indicates that one 201g serving uses 8.1% of an adult’s daily dietary carbon allowance. This is based on lifecycle emissions analysis, including ingredients, production, and packaging.
Of course, if that is indeed the case, that is just one company’s initiative. It could never lead to anything. The slippery slope is a myth, you know.