Jamie sweet talks MPs over obesity
JAMIE Oliver showed MPs how the sugar tax has improved soft drinks as he pleaded for more government action to stop children from becoming obese.
Jamie said childhood obesity was a “catastrophe” and “every single minister” had a role in tackling it.
He and fellow chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall showed the Health and Social Care Select Committee how the levy on soft drinks had cut the number of sachets of sugar in one bottle of Ribena.
They want the sugar tax to be extended to milk drinks, as well as a crackdown on junk food advertising, with a 9pm watershed. Jamie said: “I counted seven minutes of ads for junk food in one Britain’s Got Talent episode.
“If my kids watch the whole series, they’ve watched enough junk food ads to make a feature-length film.
“Imagine it – Junk Food: The Movie. They’ll get you in the end.” Hugh, whose BBC series Britain’s Fat Fight With Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackles obesity, also addressed the committee. He said: “I don’t think human nature has changed in the last 30 years, but the obesity rates in this country have trebled. It’s May the first and this is May Day for the obesity crisis.” The second stage of the Government’s childhood obesity plan is expected to be unveiled later this year. Jamie, who was invited by former PM David Cameron to advise on the first stage, told MPs the response of Theresa May’s Government to the obesity issue had been a “massive disappointment”. Earlier, on BBC Radio 4, Jamie said that when Mrs May took over from Mr Cameron, “they pushed it out”. Britain has one of the highest child obesity rates in Europe.