Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps in co-operation with major retailers to prevent unhealthy food being marketed more favourably than healthier foods.

Jane Ellison

The Department has been leading a programme of voluntary action by industry to rebalance their advertising and promotion, including by offering the healthier option as a default so that their customers can choose to follow a healthy, balanced diet.

For example, major retailers such as Lidl and Tesco have committed to remove sweets and confectionery from all of their checkouts. The Department continues to encourage more partners to follow this example, and through programmes like Change4life promotes such action.