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Government rejects Lords’ calls for tougher food industry regulation
The UK health secretary, Wes Streeting, has dismissed key recommendations from a House of Lords report advocating stronger accountability for the food industry in tackling obesity. The government has opted against barring food companies from health policy discussions and ruled out the immediate introduction of compulsory health targets.
Health campaigners expressed disappointment, fearing a lack of decisive action on public health. The Lords’ report had urged mandatory regulation, including new levies on unhealthy products and a shift away from voluntary measures. However, Streeting defended voluntary initiatives as quicker to implement and more conducive to innovation, though he acknowledged that mandatory regulations might be necessary in the future.
The government also cited technical obstacles to extending mandatory reporting and sugar levies, stressing the need to resolve these issues before imposing further regulations. Streeting reaffirmed the government’s commitment to collaborating with the food industry to address the obesity crisis through its forthcoming National Food Strategy.
Source: The Grocer, 30 January 2025
See also: Obesity Health Alliance - The Government’s Response to the UK House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee’s Report | House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee – Recipe for our health: a plan to fix our broken food system
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Former minister compares alcohol industry tactics to tobacco lobby during MUP debate
Michael Matheson, former Scottish health secretary, has accused the alcohol industry of employing delaying and discrediting strategies similar to those used by the tobacco industry during the debate on minimum unit pricing (MUP). Reflecting on his time in office, he described the policy's introduction as highly contentious, citing prolonged legal challenges that stalled its implementation.
Speaking at an event organised by the Institute for Government, Matheson suggested that if MUP were proposed today, it might face obstacles under the Internal Market Act. Despite initial resistance, he emphasised that clear clinical evidence now supports the effectiveness of the pricing measure in reducing alcohol-related harm.
Source: The Daily Mail, 31 January 2025
See also: ASH – Killer Tactics: How tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drink industries hold back public health progress
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Blog: What does the Tobacco and Vapes Bill actually do?
This blog, written by Helen Duffy, Public Affairs Lead at ASH, explores what the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill does and where it could go further.
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Podcast: Let’s talk e-cigarettes
In this podcast, hosts Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Nicola Lindson, Associate Professor and Lead of the Oxford Tobacco Addiction Group, discuss the recent findings of their Cochrane review of interventions into quitting vaping.
See also: Cochrane Library - Interventions for quitting vaping
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Academic paper: Electronic cigarettes and subsequent cigarette smoking in young people: A systematic review
This systematic review evaluates the evidence for a gateway effect from vaping to smoking in young people. The results show that, at an individual level, people who vape appear to be more likely to go on to smoke than people who do not vape; however, it is unclear if these behaviours are causally linked. The findings are limited by very low certainty evidence which has “critical limitations and contradictions”.
There was low certainty evidence that youth vaping and smoking are inversely related at a population level ie. smoking rates decline as vaping rates go up.
The researchers conclude that more data is needed and that future studies are likely to change their conclusions.
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