The Fresh Produce Consortium has slated the Department of Health’s latest rollout of its responsibility pledge to improve the nation’s diet.

The department announced the third phase of the pledge last week with promises from retailers, foodservice operators and processors to drive consumers to eat their 5 A DAY.

But FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney has issued a stark warning: “You have got to be concerned when everyone is making health claims about their products. Just a few weeks ago processed foods were shown up on a documentary for claiming to be part of a consumer’s 5 A DAY when they are blatantly not. If we are not careful, we are going to be encouraging people to eat more foods thinking they count towards their 5 A DAY when they don’t, and we certainly don’t want that.”

Public health minister Anna Soubry said on Friday that the fruit and vegetable pledge includes frozen, canned, dried and juiced products, as well as fruit and vegetables in prepared food, such as ready meals.

“This pledge is part of a wider government
plan to encourage everyone to eat their 5 A DAY, which includes our £10 million investment in the Change4Life campaign, and the 2.1m children who receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable in school every day under our scheme.”

Jenney slammed the government for “failing significantly” in allowing some “less reputable manufacturers” to make 5 A DAY claims. “There are good intentions, but some manufacturers are just thinking ‘That is the image I need to portray to get shoppers to buy my products’.”

The new pledgers include Aldi, which has promised to increase the amount of store space dedicated to fresh produce and feature its discounted Super 6 lines in TV advertising.

Co-operative Food will target customers who are not buying fruit and vegetables with money-off coupons and Iceland will also offer coupons and increase promotion using website and social media features, as well as introducing products.

Topics