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Showing posts from June, 2009

Today's shopping basket, tomorrow's public health

It is a slogan coined by or for Dawn Primarolo, UK Minister for Public Health, who used it to welcome the commitment of major UK retailers to work with her Food Code of Good Practice. She said retailers provided neither a scapegoat or a panacea for people's unhealthy lifestyles; people are ultimately responsible for their own health. But retailers who helped to shape people's minds and tastes would help shift the commercial landscape; to one where children saw fruit at eye level and not candy bars, for example. She sees that major retailers are headed for the same destination, albeit perhaps not travelling on the same path. She clearly likes the progress that she sees in the major corporates' initiatives. What is the big deal: No-one likes to say they are selling stuff that is bad for you! But setting aside any cynicism, her fundamental point is correct. Influencing shopping baskets creates and reinforces behaviour. What the major stores do today will impact what e...