Third Sector
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Restricting unhealthy foods could protect lives, says study
Measures to restrict unhealthy food in England and Wales could protect lives and save the NHS money, according to a new study.
Researchers suggest that laws or other measures to reduce salt intake by 3g a day could prevent 30,000 cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, and save the NHS £40 million a year.
They also suggest that laws to reduce the amount of trans-fats we eat could save £230 million a year.
British Heart Foundation senior heart health dietitian, Victoria Taylor, said: “Large scale prevention measures can take time to show their full effect, so modelling studies like this are useful for identifying the cost effectiveness and benefits that different approaches may offer.
“We know that eating well is key for our heart health. Voluntary action has already helped to make improvements to our diets, but there’s much more that still needs to be done including reformulating foods to make them healthier, and helping to make the "healthy choice" an easy choice for shoppers.
"To this end, we’re calling on the Government to do everything it can to get traffic light labels onto food packs because they make it easier for shoppers to see at a glance what’s in the food they’re buying. Formally recommending these to food manufacturers and retailers would be a great start.”
The study is published online in the British Medical Journal.
