Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, will pledge to take tougher action to protect children from commercial pressures and the harm caused by sugar, alcohol and smoking. The new public health strategy forms part of a wider plan to improve health and ensure the NHS remains affordable and sustainable in our ageing society.
A new food policy will impose maximum limits on levels of fat, salt and sugar in food marketed substantially to children. Improvements will also be made to food labelling to help people better understand what they are eating, including working at EU level to introduce traffic-light labelling of packaged food.
In a speech at Demos to launch the strategy, Burham, said: “Children will need better protection from the pressures of modern living and the harm caused by alcohol, sugar and smoking and Labour will not flinch from taking the action needed to provide it.
“This new positive approach will help give all children a healthy start and help adults to get the most out of life.”
Labour believes that action on public health is essential not only to improve health and wellbeing but also to ensure the NHS remains sustainable for the long term. Party figures suggest that unless action is taken to halt the rise in obesity and diabetes, the cost of diabetes to the NHS will rise from £10 billion to £17 billion a year by 2035.
Luciana Berger MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Public Health, said: “We are setting our clear intention to take robust action to protect children from harm where voluntary measures have failed including regulating to limit the amount of sugar, far and salt in food marketed substantially to children.”