Storm over crisp logos on cricket kits

THE head of the NHS has criticised cricket chiefs over a sponsorship deal with crisp manufacturers.

Simon Stevens said it was ‘disappointing’ that brands such as Hula Hoops and McCoys would be emblazoned on players’ kits at a major competition. The Hundred Cricket tournament starts in July next year and is aimed at children.

Each of the eight teams from cities including Manchester, Cardiff and London will feature a KP snack on their kit.

Addressing the NHS Providers conference in Manchester, Mr Stevens said: ‘With poor diet a bigger risk factor for ill health than smoking, it is disappointing when you see, for example, the English Cricket Board doing a deal with junk food – aimed at children – for sponsorship for the Cricket 100. I hope that when those sorts of deals are considered in future, people make a different choice.’

The chief executive of NHS England also underlined his support for the sugar tax, introduced on fizzy drinks in April last year. Tomorrow, a report from Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies is expected to call for this tax to be widened to junk food. Mr Stevens urged the Government to take her findings ‘very seriously,’ stressing that the sugar tax had ‘worked’.

In July, Boris Johnson promised to review such taxes if he became Prime Minister. He said: ‘Rather than just taxing people more, we should look at how effective the so-called sin taxes really are, and if they actually change behaviour.’