Nearly 80 per cent of food manufacturers, retailers and advisers believe there is too much fat, salt and sugar in food. This statistic was one of many brought to light in a survey conducted by Clarke Willmott at their inaugural South West Food and Drink Conference.
Some 69 per cent of all respondents believed that the government should do something to reduce these quantities. Measures such as a ban on advertising sweet and processed food on television before 9pm surprisingly received support from 52 per cent. Another surprising result was the support by 55 per cent of respondents for some sort of advertising tax, where a proportion of money spent on advertising ‘junk food’ goes towards advertising healthy food such as fruit and vegetables.
Industry insiders did not believe that all responsibility lay with the government however, as 97 per cent of people questioned felt that manufacturers had a responsibility to make their food as healthy as possible, including 100 per cent of the manufacturers present.
William Juckes, Clarke Willmott partner and head of the food and drink sector, said: “It is a commonly held belief that consumers feel that there are too many additives in our food, but it was very revealing to discover that those involved in the food industry also feel this way and that manufacturers feel that they have a responsibility to reduce this.
“We work with many companies who are very keen to keep abreast of the law and any new advances in food technology, in order to provide their customers with the highest standard of food. There is a misconception that food companies will produce low quality food to achieve a sale, but in our experience this is not so. The turnout at the conference and the results of this survey bear out that there are a significant number of manufacturers and retailers who are very concerned to sell high quality produce and who are often badly affected by ‘scandals’ concerning food.”
More than 100 members of food industry attended to the conference to listen to people such as Rob Rees, the well known chef and promoter of healthy eating; the Food and Drink Federation and Somerfield’s innovation director Sandra Ziles tackling issues such as Sudan I and what the food sector can do to address the growing concerns about food and drink security and health issues.
No comments yet