Study on commitment to fighting obesity
AUCKLAND: A new study ranking 25 of New Zealand’s biggest food companies for their commitment to fighting obesity has found some are making good progress but they could all go further.
Researchers said they found large variations between the companies, which included packaged food and drinks manufacturers, fastfood restaurants and supermarkets.
The study, launched yesterday, was conducted by fifthyear University of Auckland medical student Apurva Kasture. It was funded by the Health Research Council.
The food companies were judged on their commitment to preventing obesity and improving nutrition.
However, they were not judged on whether they met their commitments or how healthy their products were. The researchers plan to measure the companies’ actual performance in their next study.
Each company was given a score card, Nestle, Fonterra, CocaCola, Mars and Unilever coming out on top.
Christian Aboud, chief executive of Nestle New Zealand, said the company would look closely at where to improve.
Cutting sugar and salt in Cheerios and offering a wholegrain option for Maggi 2 Minute noodles were examples of the many changes Nestle had made, Mr Aboud said.
The report gave Nestle the top score of 75 out of 100. It recommended changes including cutting portion sizes on some foods and making it clear on Nestle’s New Zealand website that it did not make political donations.
Prof Boyd Swinburn, who supervised the study, said many companies had committed to complying with the Advertising Standards Authority code for advertising to children and young people, but stronger action was needed.
‘‘Companies really could go beyond the existing weak code and include children up to the age of 18 years in marketing policies and stop using promotions like cartoon characters and interactive games,’’ he said.
Companies performed relatively well on product labelling, many, such as Countdown and Foodstuffs, committing to using health star ratings on their products.
Many were also transparent about their relationships. CocaCola, Arnott’s and Restaurant Brands were the most transparent about research funding and had publicly committed to not making political donations.
Food and beverage manufacturers and supermarkets were cutting salt and sugar in their products but this was variable and hard to measure.
‘‘Nestle has a target for lowering sodium, sugar and saturated content. Frucor Suntory commits to have one in three products sold to be low or nosugar by 2030. More companies could develop targets to reduce sodium, sugar, saturated fat, trans fat and portion sizes,’’ they said.
The researchers also wanted more companies to limit specials on unhealthy products and make all checkouts junkfood free and for fastfood companies to stop all free refills.
The researchers said some companies had taken positive steps ‘‘in response to pressure from society’’ to improve their products.