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Obesity

My Lords, I very much welcome the Foresight report and the Minister’s response to it. However, as the noble Earl, Lord Howe, has already said, this is not a new issue. Indeed, as the British Heart Foundation said in its press release, each time the matter of obesity is raised, the Government have pressed the snooze button, turned over and gone back to sleep. I have two questions. First, does the Minister accept that many of the actions taken so far are either tinkering at the edges or not based on sound evidence? For instance, the changes introduced to school meals have resulted in a reduction in the uptake of school meals of about 17 per cent. The front-of-pack labelling, to which noble Lords have referred, is a voluntary action and will not be accepted by the industry as a whole. As the noble Earl, Lord Howe, said, different parts of the food industry are adopting different labelling schemes, confusing the consuming public. Secondly, does the Minister accept that unless the Government are prepared to take firmer action, which will involve regulation, the issue of obesity will not be effectively tackled?