Food Propaganda makes an impact

On the 13th December 2006 Lars Barfoed resigned as Danish Minister for Consumer and Family Affairs in a political scandal, immediately following the publication of a highly critical report about food control procedures.

His place was taken by the glamorous blue eyed, blonde, frisky and very healthy looking Carina Christiansen who started out working for the family business , making office furniture (Rugballe Møbelfabrik A/S). She went on to be an aide to Poul Schlüter, Danish Prime Minister from 1982-1993 who had been a member of the Council of Europe 1971-1974 and who set up by , also known as CEPOS, is an independent think-tank in Denmark which is Inspired by institutions such as American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Adam Smith Institute, and the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Carina was elected for the right wing Det Konservative Folkeparti in 2001 and has a record of close interest in family affairs.You can contact her by e-mail minister@minff.dk or visit her website www.carinachristensen.dk
Reflecting increasing concern in Europe about the food we give children she wants to stop pre - schools serving junk food and encouraging sweets, maintaining they have a duty to set a good example. She told the daily newspaper Fyens Stiftstidende she says lessons about healthy eating are undermined when children are permitted to eat unhealthy food.

By 2008 all public workplaces are to create an official dietary policy for their employees. Christensen believes a ban on giving children sugar at schools could be made a part of such local regulations.

'Just 25 years ago you would never have considered giving sweets to a child under the age of three,' she said. 'Today, whenever we have a special occasion, out come the sweets. We can't get enough of them. It's nuts that we allow that to happen at pre-schools.'

In the UK The Food Standards Propaganda Agency (FSA) has published its 7th, UK wide Consumer Attitudes to Food Survey (3,513 interviews Aug-Oct 2006) revealing that healthy eating is increasingly a key concern for consumers.

Certain trends have become increasingly apparent..

1. A significant increase in the number of consumers who are aware that they should eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day. UK wide - up from 43% in 2000 to 71% in 2006 - although many don't understand what that means.

2. UK wide consumers are trying to increase their consumption of vegetables (38%) and fruit (45%) although per capita consumption figures are difficult to find.

3. UK wide the amount of fat, salt and sugar continued to be a key issue of concern for consumers when prompted with a list of possible concerns. Salt was mentioned by over half of the UK sample (54%) and fat and sugar each by more than two fifths of respondents (fat 46% and sugar 43%).

4. UK wide, 52% of consumers said that they usually or always looked at food labels when purchasing a product for the first time.

5. Over half of consumers agreed that they would like more information about the food that they buy and almost half said they found it difficult to know if a product is healthy from the label.

Unsurprisingly the FSA record a rising consumer awareness ( from 58% in 2000 to 82% in 2006) of the FSA and its role in providing clear consumer advice. Detailed report figures here.
You can also visit the Eatwell website run by the FSA with very good advice on healthy eating.