Food makers’ sugar, salt and fat ‘are adding to virus toll’

FOOD manufacturers must take some of the blame for the scale of the coronavirus death toll, experts warned yesterday.

They accused companies of using the crisis to promote foods that were high in sugar, fat and salt.

‘If the UK population had not been so obese and the Government and food industry had taken the problem seriously, we would be in a much better position,’ said Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London.

‘Unlike most other risk factors, we can do something about obesity.’

Professor MacGregor, who is also chairman of campaign group Action on Sugar, called for urgent measures to tackle obesity and lessen the impact of any further waves of the virus.

Some 78 per cent of confirmed infections and 62 per cent of virus deaths in hospitals involved overweight or obese patients, according to official data.

A study by the University of Liverpool of Covid patients in hospital found those who were obese were almost 40 per cent less likely to survive than others.

The UK has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe.

In an editorial in the British Medical Journal, the researchers said the pandemic was likely to be fuelling unhealthier lifestyles. They also argued the food industry has used the outbreak as a marketing opportunity – with one example an offer of glazed doughnuts for NHS and other key staff.

Panic buying and disruption to supplies could have pushed shoppers from fresh to processed food, they added.