The regulations will keep food and drink that is high in fat, salt and sugar away from prized spots at checkouts, store entrances and ends of aisles. But the Coco Pops giant argues the policy has a fundamental flaw – it is based on nutritional calculations that do not factor in the milk usually added to cereals.
Chris Silcock, Kellogg’s UK managing director, said: “The formula being used by the Government to measure the nutritional value of breakfast cereals is wrong and not implemented legally. It measures cereals dry when they are almost always eaten with milk. All of this matters because, unless you take account of the nutritional elements added when Poor show…
cereal is eaten with milk, the full nutritional value of the meal is not measured.” Kellogg’s says it has “tried to have a reasonable conversation with government” before the law comes into effect in England in October.
But the group, which also makes Special K, Nutri-Grain and Crunchy Nut, is now set for the High Court.
The case marks an important test of the rule changes, which will also ban junk food advertising classic before 9pm on TV and online. But Kellogg’s challenge was rubbished yesterday.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Breakfast cereals contribute seven per cent – a significant amount – to the average daily free sugar intakes of children.
“Restricting the promotion and advertising of less healthy foods is an important part of the strategy to halve childhood obesity by 2030, prevent harmful diseases and improve healthy life expectancy.”
And Barbara Crowther, of pressure group Sustain’s Children’s Food Campaign, said: “If Kellogg’s genuinely supports the Government’s obesity strategy it would not be adopting this course of action, instead getting behind plans designed to make healthier food and drink more available and affordable.
“It is perfectly correct for the nutrient profile model to assess breakfast cereals on the basis of what is actually in the packet as sold, and not what people choose to add to their breakfast, whether that is milk, yogurt, juice, fruit or nothing at all.
“What they propose seems perverse [and] unworkable in practice.”
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