Supermarkets could be forced to ensure shoppers make healthier food choices in a bid by ministers to tackle the obesity crisis
Supermarkets could be forced to ensure shoppers make healthier food choices in a bid by ministers to tackle the obesity crisis.
Plans are being drawn up for supermarkets to promote fruit and vegetables to customers instead of fattening items like crisps and chocolate, according to the i newspaper.
This will be done using nudge tactics to convince shoppers to make healthier choices during their weekly shop.
The proposals are believed to be part of Health Secretary Wes Streeting 's ten-year NHS plan which is due to be published next week.
Under the shopping policy, the largest retailers will be forced to record data which shows how successful they are in convincing consumers to swap out fattening items for healthier alternatives.
It could result in supermarkets adjusting the layout of their stores so healthy items are displayed more prominently.
Retailers have the ability to reformulate their own-brand products to make them more healthy as well as change signage and marketing to make nutritious foods look more appealing, according to policymakers.
Details of the proposal are yet to be completely signed off but officials believe that providing supermarkets with clear targets on encouraging shoppers to make better choices could help reduce obesity levels in the country.
The plans are based on a ten-year obesity blueprint which was developed by think tank Nesta.
'We urgently need to reshape our food system so that the healthier option is the easiest option for everyone, regardless of where you buy your food,' it said in its report.
'By implementing ambitious yet achievable mandatory health targets for retailers, we can make real progress towards these goals and start turning the tide on obesity once and for all.'
Labour MPs have been asking the Health Secretary to adopt the proposals privately and all major supermarkets have been briefed on it.
One Labour MP, who supports the policy, said: 'These are really simple things that you can change, and it may mean giving supermarkets a bit of a hit. But it's how you get people to make changes to their behaviour.
'It's a bit like the smoking in pubs. People were dead against it and then when they did it, even smokers supported it - that switch in behaviour that is seen as unthinkable, but that's how you change things.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
an hour ago
- Wales Online
This Cardiff GP has been advertising expensive health pills. There are serious concerns over what he's doing
This Cardiff GP has been advertising expensive health pills. There are serious concerns over what he's doing The NHS is looking into concerns over Dr Paul O'Connell's activities after an investigation by WalesOnline Cardiff GP Dr Paul O'Connell (Image: WalesOnline ) A Cardiff GP has been accused of fronting "dangerous" social media ads for health supplements. Dr Paul O'Connell, a locum GP registered with Cardiff and Vale University health board, is a co-founder of a company called Nutritional Sciences Ltd (trading as Physical Nutrition) though he is not a director. In 2023 the business made £961,377 in profit, well up from the previous year's £246,044. But we can reveal there are serious concerns over videos promoting the firm's supplements on social media. The videos often start with a scrubs-donning Dr O'Connell making a striking claim, such as that eating cereal "causes you joint pain", before a 20-minute spiel that concludes with the benefits of the firm's pills. The products include a "blood sugar formula" and supplements for "prostate health" and "joint health" — but we have spoken to experts with fierce criticisms, ranging from questionable ingredients to "dangerously misleading" claims in ads. The NHS told us it is reviewing the concerns over Dr O'Connell's conduct. Dr O'Connell, 53, denied wrongdoing and a Physical Nutrition spokesman said: "We take our regulatory responsibilities very seriously, and ensure that all claims we make about our products are scientifically supported.' The 'blood sugar formula' Our investigation into the company began after we were contacted by a concerned GP, Dr John Cormack — based in Essex, some 200 miles from Dr O'Connell — about adverts that kept flashing up on his Facebook feed. Article continues below Dr Cormack was troubled by videos advertising the company's Gluco Support supplement, priced at £69.95 for 90 pills, which are claimed to help customers "maintain healthy blood sugar levels" using "superfood" ingredients. The videos' characters described health episodes such as collapsing at a wedding because of "spiking" blood sugar, and how the product had changed their lives. Although the footage did not mention the word "diabetes", Dr Cormack feared people could interpret the product as capable of treating diabetes. A "dangerous" example, he felt, was a video that claimed Dr O'Connell had "discovered a way of controlling your blood sugar level without mad exercising, dieting or even painful injections". Dr Cormack felt this could lead to diabetics thinking they could stop taking insulin injections. He was alarmed to see one Facebook user had commented on the video: "Do you quit diabetic medication when using this medicine?" Cardiff GP Dr Paul O'Connell (Image: WalesOnline ) The lawyers representing Dr O'Connell said he had "never made claims around diabetes". They argued that fainting at a wedding could be caused by a "wide range of issues" and that the mention of "painful injections" was actually a reference to the "potentially dangerous practice of using weight loss GLP-1 injections". He would never advise patients to stop taking insulin, the solicitors added. But WalesOnline found an advert with a tagline that described Dr O'Connell as a "leading diabetes expert". The firm's lawyers told us this ad would be removed and that it was a mistake by a marketing employee who had gone against the firm's guidelines, which would be "reiterated" to staff. Next we found wording on the Physical Nutrition website that specifically aimed its blood sugar product at "diabetic" people, telling them "it doesn't have to be this way" and "it couldn't be easier to take back control of your health". Physical Nutrition accepted this "ought never to have been published". Its lawyers told us our enquiries had prompted it to "urgently review its marketing materials", leading to the discovery of ads which "would never have been approved by the senior management". Dr O'Connell's lawyers, meanwhile, said he wasn't aware of the diabetes references and did not endorse them. Secrets of the salamander A range of past scenarios involving Dr O'Connell were used to promote the company's "joint health" supplement, Activ8 Joint Complete. In one video he can be seen wearing black leathers, sprawled on a road after what he describes as a motorbike crash. He tells how the accident left him with chronic joint pain so he carried out research to create Activ8, a 90-capsule bottle of which costs £69.95. In a different video he describes experiencing long-term joint pain after a pedal cycle accident. In another he tells of chronic pain from a "nasty car crash". When we asked Dr O'Connell how many road accidents he had been in, his lawyers responded there had been "a number of significant accidents and numerous more minor accidents". In one video Dr O'Connell was described as a "joint health specialist". When we asked if this was true, the GP's lawyers said he wasn't aware he had been characterised in this way and did not endorse it. But the description, we pointed out, came from his own voiceover. Cardiff GP Dr Paul O'Connell (Image: WalesOnline ) Dr O'Connell said he did not recall using the term "specialist" but did consider himself a joint expert, having previously led teams that gave "electrical stimulation to neurologically impaired patients who suffered from foot drop". His lawyers added that he also carried out an audit on preventing blood clots in joint replacement surgery, and worked with orthopaedic surgeons when he was a foundation doctor. The videos told how Dr O'Connell's "battle with joint pain" led him to remedies derived from "secrets of the salamander", an amphibian which has the ability to regenerate its tail. But last June these videos led to an Advertising Standards Authority ruling against the company, which had failed to engage with the watchdog during its investigation. The ASA found breaches of the advertising code with statements that "a self-healing mechanism can reverse YEARS of arthritis and joint damage" and that cartilage can "regrow just like hair and nails", implying a food supplement could treat human disease. It also found no evidence to support the company's claim that Dr O'Connell was the NHS' "leading joint expert". Physical Nutrition told us it stood by its claims about Activ8 — pointing to Duke University research suggesting humans have an "inner salamander capacity" — but that nevertheless it agreed to take down the videos. Yet, nearly a year on from the ruling, we found the firm still had videos on its social media suggesting the supplement could help regrow cartilage. When we put this to the business, it said the footage had been "missed in a sweep" after the ruling, and would be removed. We then pointed out there were still claims about "supporting cartilage regrowth" on the website. Again, the firm accepted this "ought not to have remained live" and that "the standards of its marketing team's work fell below those acceptable". It vowed to restrain "sales puff" and bring in "a more robust quality control regimen". The scathing verdict of a rheumatologist We asked award-winning consultant rheumatologist Dr Wendy Holden — who is medical advisor to the Arthritis Action charity — her thoughts on Activ8 itself, which the firm claims to be a "clinically proven" joint health formula. Dr Holden was damning in her assessment of the pills' ingredients. "Collagen is digested in the gut and metabolised to glucose just as any protein is, so collagen taken by mouth cannot somehow magic itself into the joints, whatever the claims," she said. She also questioned the claim that oral hyaluronic acid could help with joint pain given that, "like collagen, it will be digested and doesn't travel straight to the joints". Dr Holden pointed out that other ingredients, glucosamine and chondroitin, had been assessed by the UK medical body NICE as potential relief for arthritis symptoms — and the latest guidance states: "Do not recommend the use of chondroitin, glucosamine." She added: "The most worrying implied claim for me, though, is that Activ8 will somehow help with cartilage regeneration. Duke University has shown that humans have molecules similar to those found in salamanders, which may be important in cartilage regeneration, but there is absolutely no evidence that anything in Activ8 can influence these substances, and this whole topic is very much at the basic science stage. "I suspect any benefits from patient testimonials are due to the placebo effect which for pain can be as high as 30 to 40%," she said. The firm's lawyers accepted there was room for "spirited and even heated scientific debate" about the benefits of the ingredients. But they said the product was supported by systematic reviews of studies involving those ingredients, which "carry significantly more weight" than the opinions of any individual. They added: "Our client does not sell medicine, and NICE guidelines are completely irrelevant to it and its products." Dr Holden acknowledged that eggshell membrane, an ingredient, had appeared in a systematic review of seven studies on easing osteoarthritis pain. But she said all were "low quality for a short duration and with few participants", and that any such benefits "would definitely not agree with conventional medical thinking". Dr O'Connell, meanwhile, denied ever claiming cartilage can be entirely regrown. His lawyers also pointed to a "substantial number of positive reviews" on the website and the offer of a 90-day refund. 'Dangerous' prostate health video Physical Nutrition also sells a "men's health" supplement, 'Protect + Perform', which it says helps "maintain a healthy prostate" at a price of £69.95 for 60 pills. When we showed one of its adverts — which the firm says is no longer in use — to the Prostate Cancer UK charity, it was disturbed. In the video, Dr O'Connell warns of "record rates of prostate problems" such as loss of bladder control, then another man's voiceover goes on to say: "It's no wonder so few men get checked, but what if there were a way to beat these problems from the comfort of your own home?" Spotting prostate problems too late "can be fatal", adds the voiceover, continuing: "Prostate cancer now kills more people than breast cancer." Prostate Cancer UK felt the video could lead to men thinking supplements were an adequate alternative to getting tested for prostate cancer. The Essex GP, Dr Cormack, had the same concern. "Research that is about something non-cancerous is presented and conflated with cancer, which is dangerously misleading," Prostate Cancer UK's assistant director of health improvement, Amy Rylance, told us. Physical Nutrition's lawyers defended the video, saying it warned against the problem of "under-investigating prostate health" and that it "makes no claims that its supplements are a suitable alternative to medical care". They said the footage was used between January 2023 and October 2024 but not since then. Logos used 'without permission' On webpages promoting Physical Nutrition's products, there was a curious positioning of the logos of the Guardian, Independent and Sky News above a picture of Dr O'Connell thoughtfully holding a finger to his head. We repeatedly asked the firm why it displayed those logos, without any answer. It was only when we contacted each news outlet — and each told us they had not licensed their logo for such use — that Physical Nutrition's lawyers responded. "At all material times our client believed that it was permitted to use the logos of publications/broadcasters with whom it had advertising agreements," said the solicitors, who added that an internal investigation was underway to check this was correct. Even if there had been permission, wouldn't the logos have risked misleading people that there'd been positive coverage from the news outlets, rather than just advertising? Physical Nutrition did not respond to this question. O'Connell denied being aware of the logos' use. What action is being taken? The ASA told us there appeared to be "ongoing problems" with Physical Nutrition's ads. The matter has been passed to the watchdog's compliance team for "follow-up enforcement action", it said. "Compliance are still actively working with the advertiser in relation to their non-compliant advertising and will decide to take firmer action should that not result in this advertiser making the required amendments," said the ASA's spokesman. "Further action may result in sanctions being applied against this advertiser." The "ongoing problems" are a symptom of regulatory toothlessness, according to Les James, a retired clinical research scientist and a trustee of the HealthSense charity, which campaigns for evidence-based healthcare. "The problem with the ASA is that, although it is by far the most rigorous of the regulators I know, it only operates a voluntary code," he said. "When it says it can apply sanctions, these actually have no legal force, so non-compliant advertisers can take no notice whatsoever. "The ASA refers to their legal backstop Trading Standards, but at HealthSense we have done research on that and found that there simply are no adequate resources for this to be effective. Trading Standards offices typically have only a handful of people, often as few as three. "The deal that the ASA has with Trading Standards is that, first of all, non-compliant advertisers are placed on the naughty step, but this can take several months or years to happen. Once it does, advertisers can sit on the list for years." Physical Nutrition — whose directors run various other health businesses, including the multimillion-pound Malaberg Ltd — told us through its lawyers that it was unaware of any follow-up enforcement action. What the NHS says A spokeswoman for Cardiff and Vale health board told us: 'Dr Paul O'Connell is listed as a locum GP on the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board medical performers list. While the concerns raised are in relation to Dr O'Connell's private work, the health board will review and consider the concerns raised in line with our standard procedures.' The lawyers representing Dr O'Connell said: "Our client is clear that he has recently been working as a regular NHS locum GP and fully intends to continue to work as a GP when locum work is available." Asked if he would continue working with Physical Nutrition, his lawyers said the relationship "will be kept under review, as it has been until now (and as with any professional relationship)". Article continues below At the time of writing, Physical Nutrition's Facebook page is not visible because it has been reviewing its marketing since we raised concerns, its lawyers said. A spokesman for Physical Nutrition said: "Gluco Support, Activ8, and Perform + Protect, as with all of our supplements, were formulated off the back of an extensive body of research from world-leading biomedical scientists, academics, and researchers at some of the world's most prestigious institutions." If you know of a story we should be investigating, email us at
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Spain's Bonmati hospitalised with viral meningitis days before Euro 2025
June 28 (Reuters) - Midfielder Aitana Bonmati, Ballon d'Or winner for the last two years, has been hospitalised with viral meningitis less than a week before Spain begin their Women's Euro 2025 campaign, coach Montse Tome said. The 27-year-old missed Friday's 3-1 win over Japan in a friendly as Spain continued building up to their first Group B match against Portugal on July 3. Bonmati shared a picture of herself watching the match from a hospital bed in an Instagram story. "The doctors say that it is controlled. Talking about meningitis can be scary but it is controlled," Tome told reporters after the win in Leganes. "Aitana will be admitted and there are no deadlines yet to know for how long (she will be absent).' Barcelona's Bonmati, who also won the FIFA Women's Player of the Year award for 2023 and 2024, has scored 30 goals for Spain in 78 appearances, playing a key role as they won the Women's World Cup in 2023 and the Women's Nations League last year. "Aitana, for us, is a very important player. We'll wait for her as long as we can," Tome added. Spain, who also have Belgium and Italy in their group, have never made it to the final of the continental championship, reaching the semi-finals only once in 1997.
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Sunburn isn't just red skin - here's what's happening underneath the burn
The government is warning that the NHS will be under even more pressure this weekend as temperatures soar, so looking after yourself in the sunshine is crucial. But how much do you know about the science behind sunburn… and how to prevent it? What is sunburn? While we all know what sunburned skin looks like - red and sore - it might not be so clear what is happening underneath the skin. "Essentially, it's inflammation," said Dr Rachel Abbott, a consultant dermatologist who specialises in skin cancer for the Cardiff and Vale University health board. Ultraviolet radiation is carcinogenic and when it is allowed to penetrate the skin, it triggers an inflammatory reaction, said Dr Abbott. Histamines - chemicals produced by the body's immune system - and prostaglandins - compounds that help the body deal with injuries and illness - are released as your body begins reacting to the damage. 0:54 Although the inflamed, red, itchy skin will fade, those carcinogens will do permanent damage to your DNA, according to Dr Abbott. "The redness and pain can be managed symptomatically, but that DNA damage is permanent," she said. "We've all got DNA repair mechanisms in our bodies. But this is why we're seeing such a massive increase in skin cancer, because [as we get older], the battle between the DNA damage and the skin cells becomes more than the immune system can cope with." Since the early 1990s, the number of skin cancer cases in Britain has more than doubled and last year, the number of cases was predicted to hit an all-time high of 20,800, according to Cancer Research UK. The cancer charity partially attributed the rise in cases to older groups of people knowing "less about the dangers of tanning in their youth", who "may have taken advantage of the cheap package holiday boom from the 1960s". This would lead to increased sun exposure and more damaged DNA, increasing the risk of skin cancer further down the line. The 'most effective' protection (and it isn't suncream) There is currently no conclusive treatment to deal with the DNA damage caused by sunburn - although Dr Abbott said there is "exciting" work being done in that area. Instead, the way to stop yourself from sustaining long-term damage is to protect yourself from UV rays. "A lot of people associate temperature with the heat of the sun, whereas actually it's the UV index that's the critical thing. And that usually peaks around midday," said Dr Abbott. 1:19 Contrary to what some may think (or hope), suncream should be a last resort. Shade "is the most effective thing", she said, but if you have to be out in the sunshine, "obviously we recommend hats, clothing and then sunscreen". "It is a last resort for those areas that you can't cover up with clothing and hats, and sunglasses." The cancer care charity Macmillan recommends a suncream with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 50, or at least 30, and to reapply it regularly. "There is no such thing as a safe suntan," advises the charity. It also recommends using around six to eight teaspoons of suncream for an adult - one teaspoon for each limb, one for your chest, one for your back and one for your head and neck.
