Journalist Criticizes Kellogg’s Attempts To Head Off U.K. Regulation

March 30, 2022: 12:00 AM EST

An article in the Financial Times has critiqued the move by Kellogg to sue the U.K. government for failing to account for the benefits of milk when it brings in restrictions on sugary foods. The author, Camilla Cavendish, said that companies like Kellogg have managed to hide behind claims that fatty and sugary treats are fine as long as they form a part of an otherwise healthy and balanced diet, but that does not take into account humans’ inability to resist temptation and the growing obesity problem. Cavendish adds that although we might not be lab rats and have a choice, it’s not easy to “compete with the marketing geniuses who have managed to convince us that ultraprocessed stuff of virtually no nutri-value is actually food. And who have persuaded hard-pressed families to spend money on it.” She was the head of the Downing Street policy unit under former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and is a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School. Cavendish remembered when she was a part of the government that imposed a levy on soft drinks in 2016. Coca-Cola at the time threatened to take the government to court but backed down. Cavendish also argues that the National Health Service spends over £6 billion annually treating obesity-related health problems, and that will rise and that pressure is mounting from investors to avoid junk food companies becoming “potentially risky stranded assets”.

Camilla Cavendish, "We have been Big Food's lab rats for too long", Financial Times (London, England), March 30, 2022, © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD

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Journalist Criticizes Kellogg’s Attempts To Head Off U.K. Regulation

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