The ISBA has suggested health campaigners are using over-simplistic scapegoat solutions to inform recent campaigns promoting ad bans.
Ian Twinn, director of public affairs for ISBA, made the criticism while speaking at the ‘Who are the fat controllers?’ debate, hosted at Liverpool University last night.
He said: “The good news is we all agree that the issue is complex and needs a serious commitment to tackling, but for me progress in the obesity issue requires more than just rhetoric and finger pointing. Despite there being only a nominal causal link between ads and food choices, for a decade we have seen a disproportionate amount of attention from campaigners on how we advertise food, even though there are already strict rules in place, especially regarding marketing to children.
“Different societies with different cultural eating habits tell very different stories – the one constant in these highly commercialised countries is they do not impose the same level of restrictions on ads as we do in the UK.
“Advertisers must take their share of responsibility, and through things like the Responsibility Deal, a commitment to lower calorie and lower fat products, they clearly are. But we must also look at the root causes of obesity and push through educational change in our schools to help capitalise on already falling obesity rates amongst the young.”
The panel also included Professor Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University London; Professor John Wilding, head of obesity and endocrinology at University of Liverpool; Dr Susan Jebb OBE, head of diet and population health at the Medical Research Council Human Research Unit, Cambridge; and was chaired by Professor Andrew Derrington, executive pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Liverpool.