In order to fight obesity and overweight, the Belgian Minister of Health strikes hard. It has just signed an unprecedented agreement with the food industry.
Agri-food and health authorities hand in hand, this is a first. In Belgium, while obesity and overweight illustrate a public health problem, the Federal Minister of Public Health, Maggie De Block, has just signed an agreement with the agri-food industry. Its objective: to fight overweight and obesity by reducing the caloric intake of food products by 5%.
According to the latest figures reported by the RTBF, 12% of the Belgian adult population is affected by obesity. Another worrying element is that one in five adolescents is overweight. A real pain to be cured.
The “Balanced Diet Convention” was signed this Thursday by three powerful industrialists: the Federation of the Belgian Food Industry (FEVIA), COMOES and the Federation for Trade and Services. This measure will affect food companies, restaurant chains (including McDonald’s, Quick) and collective kitchen services (Sodexo among others), which have one year to apply this reduction.
In addition to reducing the amount of salt in food, the convention also wants to promote the presence of fiber, instead of saturated fat.
“Traders play a dual role: they sell the products of others, and in addition, they produce more than a third of the products in their stores. With this agreement, traders, restaurant chains and collective kitchen services assume their responsibilities, ”said in a statement. Dominique Michel, director of COMOES.
A news received positively
As the Belgian newspaper reports Sightings, the fight does not date from yesterday. Since 2012, manufacturers have been working to reduce calorie intake in food. A 10% decrease in salt consumption has been observed by the Belgian authorities, who are tackling the problem head on.
“At European level, Belgium is a pioneer by proposing a concrete plan, benefiting from broad support to help consumers adopt healthier and more balanced eating habits,” emphasizes the magazine. The Express a representative of industrialists.
As confided to the site dh.be Annick Van Overstraeten, manager of a restaurant chain concerned by the drop in calorie intake, “this decision is quite logical. We all know the dangers of white enemies (salt and sugar, Editor’s note) and fats. People often realize and opt for healthy eating on their own. (…) I think that we are all making efforts in this direction ”. The Belgian authorities will carry out a check at the end of 2017, to ensure compliance with the convention.
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