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News Releases
No. 96/06
November 9, 2006
EUROPEAN COMMISSION COMMENDS COMPANIES FOR THEIR COMMITMENTS TO FIGHTING OBESITY
European
Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner,
Markos Kyprianou, publicly
“named and praised” CEOs of major food, drink and retail industries for their concrete commitments to tackling obesity. Among the companies are: nine soft
drink companies in UNESDA (Union of European Beverages Associations), including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, who have committed
themselves not to advertise soft drinks to children under twelve; McDonald’s for
their commitment to provide nutritional information on packaging throughout
Europe; Unilever for their commitment to reformulate products; and Kraft for
their commitment not to market certain products directly to children unless they
meet a certain nutritional profile.
So far 146 commitments have been presented within the framework of the
European
Union Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which gathers
stakeholders to agree on voluntary measures to combat overweight and promote
physical activity.
“These commitments are good examples of concrete and verifiable action
undertaken by industry to tackle obesity and overweight. The EU Platform is
producing results. I would therefore like to congratulate the companies that
made these commitments, encourage them to build on their good work, and invite
others to do the same – and more. It’s only by working together that we can hope
to halt and begin to reverse the growing obesity epidemic in Europe," said
Commissioner Kyprianou.
The European CEOs of the "named and praised" companies presented their
commitments:
- Dominique Reiniche, President, European Union Group, The
Coca-Cola Company and President of the Union of European Beverages
Associations (UNESDA) and Zein Abdalla, CEO of PepsiCo Europe, presented the
commitments of the nine soft drink companies in UNESDA[1] who have committed
not to advertise soft drinks to children under 12 and have set up a system of
independent consultants to monitor the implementation of this commitment;
- Denis Hennequin, President of McDonald’s Europe, outlined McDonald’s
commitment to provide nutritional information on packaging throughout Europe;
- Kees Van der Graaf, President Europe of Unilever, explained Unilever’s
commitment to reformulate products; and
- Marc Firestone, Executive Vice President--Corporate and Legal Affairs of
Kraft Foods, presented Kraft’s commitment not to market certain products
directly to children unless they meet a certain nutritional profile.
The implementation of these commitments is monitored in a transparent,
accountable and participative way, a fact that was emphasized by Commissioner
Kyprianou as a key element for building credibility of the Platform and one of
the reasons why they were considered good examples.
Close links with the US have been established under this initiative: a Joint
EU/US conference on health, nutrition and obesity was held May 11-12, 2006
in Brussels, with fifty participants from the US government, industry and consumer
groups. Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Alex Azar, opened the event along with
Commissioner Kyprianou.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Deborah Majoras led the delegates through the second
day, together with EU Health & Consumer Protection Director General
Robert Madelin.
Commissioner Kyprianou also set out his thoughts on work in progress in the area
of
nutrition and healthy diets ahead of the EU-WHO Conference in Istanbul
(November 15-17, 2006). One core result of the conference is expected to be the
adoption of a European Charter on counteracting obesity. The next step for the
European Commission is a possible Communication on Nutrition and Healthy Diets
in 2007.
Background:
Obesity in Europe
The rising prevalence of obesity across the EU is a major public health concern.
Obesity causes a range of chronic diseases including diabetes, cancers and heart
disease. Unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity are a leading cause of
avoidable illness and premature death in Europe. Figures prepared for the World
Health Organization (WHO) by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) show
that one in five children in Europe is overweight with an additional 400,000
children becoming overweight each year.
EU Platform for action on diet, physical activity and health
The EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health has brought
together key players from industry, NGOs, doctors’ associations and consumer
groups to enter into binding but voluntary commitments as part of an effort to
halt and reverse obesity trends.
Since its launch in 2005 a total of 146 commitments for new actions to fight
obesity have been made and are being implemented by Platform members. They range
from the promotion of healthy lifestyles to the provision of greater nutritional
information and the restriction of advertising to young children.
For more information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/nutrition_en.htm
.
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[1] C&C (Ireland); The
Coca-Cola Company; Coca-Cola Enterprises; The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling
Company; Gerber Foods Holdings, Ltd; GlaxoSmithKline; Orangina Group (formerly
Cadbury Schweppes European Beverages); Pepsi Beverages Europe and Unilever.
Further Contact Information
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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