OBESITY AND SUGAR SUBSTITUTION

That this House notes that the recently published Eurostat yearbook reveals that levels of adult obesity in the UK are the worst in Europe, which reinforces the scale of the challenge facing Government in reducing levels of adult and childhood obesity; highlights as anomalous and as counterproductive to meeting obesity targets the fact that very high calorie and high sugar content cold drinks such as fruit juices continue to be allowed in schools, whereas drinks using low calorie sweeteners are to be banned; calls upon officials in the Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency, the School Food Trust, the Department for Education and Skills and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to pursue evidence-based policies and recognise the value of sugar substitution as part of the fight against obesity, as widely recognised by clinicians, academics, slimming organisations and the general public; welcomes the statement from the Public Health minister that emerging evidence is being kept under review and that sugar substitution with low calorie sweeteners has a role to play in reducing energy intake; and calls upon the Government to redouble its efforts to engage with industry to address levels of sugar and fat in food and drink to reduce calorific intake in the UK.