FREE PRAWN CRACKERS BAN THREAT
Consultation report suggests restrictions on treats like prawn crackers and poppadoms
FREEBIE prawn crackers and poppadoms could be binned in a Scottish Government crackdown on unhealthy eating.
A public consultation on junk food restrictions named the takeaway favourites among savoury snacks high in salt, fat and sugar. The SNP Government have already set out proposals to cut back on all-you-can-eat buffets, multibuys, purchase rewards and free samples.
But the full consultation document, published yesterday, adds “discretionary foods” targeted.
It states: “Savoury snacks include, among other things, corn snacks, wheat snacks, prawn crackers, poppadoms.” Other foods on the hit list include sweet biscuits, crisps, cakes and sugary drinks.
According to Cancer Research UK, obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, responsible for 2200 cases in Scotland every year. Scottish Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said his proposals are “groundbreaking”. He added: “Scotland has a positive history of taking ambitious and pioneering action to protect the public’s health.” Scottish Retail Consortium head of policy Ewan MacDonald-Russell said: “For this intervention to be reasonable and proportionate, it’s vital the Scottish Government are forensic in identifying and justifying products they put into the scope of these restrictions.”
However, the Scottish Government last night appeared to contradict their consultation.
In a statement, a spokesman said prawn crackers and poppadoms could be seen as part of “main meals”.
The spokesman said: “We’re not looking to make restrictions in relation to main meals and it is not our intention to restrict restaurants from including savoury foods, such as prawn crackers or poppadoms, as part of meals.”