Sugar, again, litter action, natural preservatives, food labelling revamp
Sugar, again…
As the sugar hysteria reaches fever pitch in the run up to the government’s long awaited childhood obesity strategy, there’s been a continued outpouring of sugar-related angst.
This week, the World Health Organisation launched its report entitled Ending Childhood Obesity, joining calls for a sugar tax on soft drinks, with the number of obese children under five “alarming”. The Mirror reports that the UK is experiencing a “tsunami of gum disease” with recent figuring showing that “62,000 kids were treated on wards for tooth problems last year.”
Litter seminar highlights action
A seminar from the Foodservice Packaging Association on litter this week explored two issues critical to the foodservice and foodservice packaging sectors: how we can achieve greater levels of recycling, and how we can work together to reduce litter?
From keeping streets clean by making litter personal and disposal easy, simple and fun; to a new EU waste directive which calls for extended producer responsibility for litter prevention, the seminar highlighted the social and economic cost of litter, and the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of many of the solutions.
Natural preservatives on the up
The natural food preservatives market has shown strong growth, fuelled by the healthy eating trend and growing consumer awareness of the side effects of chemical preservatives, according to a new report. Increased demand for organic food and the preference for premium products are also credited with driving growth in the natural food preservatives market globally.
Food packaging labels need revamp
EU legislation on materials which come into contact with food is seriously inadequate, according to the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).
HEAL is seeking proper regulation of all types of “Food Contact Materials”, including a prohibition on the use of both endocrine disrupting chemicals and “Substances of Very High Concern”, or SVHCs, as defined under REACH chemical regulation.
Concerns about plastics leaching into food from packaging has already led to an EU ban on Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and limitations on the use of certain phthalates in food contact materials made of plastic. Both these substances are known to be endocrine disruptors.
