Charity leading the fight against childhood obesity is FUNDED by junk food firms from Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to Pot Noodle
The Children's Food Trust has struck sponsorship deals with Mars, Unilever, Pizza Express and Tesco
A CHARITY leading the fight against childhood obesity is funded by junk food firms.
The Children’s Food Trust won a contract with Public Health England to develop early-years menus.
But it has struck sponsorship deals with the likes of Mars, Unilever, Pizza Express and Tesco — in return offering them access to “thousands of schools, nurseries and parents”.
Unilever, whose brands include Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Lipton's Ice Tea and Pot Noodle, was recently fined in Australia for placing “school canteen approved” logos on its ice cream bars.
Public Health England said the menus are being developed by a cross-section of health experts.
Authorities in Australia recently fined Unilever for placing “school canteen approved” logos on packets of their Paddle Pop ice cream bars.
The Australian Competition Commissioner ruled Unilever were “using logos to claim that these products were a healthy option for school canteens to supply to children, when they were not” - which is a mirror if what’s happening here.
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A CFT spokesman said: “The reality is that if we really want to change children’s food habits, one of the most powerful ways to influence them is via the stores and brands families use and enjoy.
“It’s easy to sit on the outside throwing stones but making things happen means working with industry to make positive changes, which is what we’re doing at the Trust, and it’s the only way a long-term difference can be made to what children eat.”