Australian food industry told to 'shape up' over fat, sugar and salt

The food industry in Australia has been told in no uncertain terms to shape up when it comes to the fat, sugar and salt content in food products.

A federal parliamentary committee inquiry into obesity is demanding tighter controls over foods and has issued a warning that unless "concrete changes" are made within a reasonable time frame, to ensure product ingredients are healthier, labelled more clearly and marketed more responsibly, mandatory regulation will be introduced.

The recommendation is one of 20 made in the report, 'Weighing it Up', by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing, and says that government and industry have no option but to tackle Australia's obesity problems and calls on the government to consider tax incentives to make fresh, healthy food, gyms and other physical activity programs more affordable.

The committee also wants gastric lap-band surgery made more accessible and marketing abuses in the weight loss industry to be addressed.

Chair of the committee, Labor MP Steve Georganas, says unless there are changes costs will continue to rocket, people will die prematurely and for the first time in centuries many will have a shorter life span than the previous generation, because of obesity and he says more must be done than just telling people they have to lose weight.

Health experts estimate that by 2025 more than 6.9 million Australians will be obese - obesity costs Australia $58 billion a year because it is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and osteoarthritis.

The committee says obesity should be listed as a chronic disease under Medicare which would allow GP's to better manage patients and allow patients to access a wider range of treatment.

The committee has called for an increase in public funding for bar iatric or gastric lap-band surgery for the morbidly obese - in 2007, 97% of these expensive procedures were carried out in private hospitals, with no public funding for the surgery despite the immediate benefits to the patient and cost savings to the health system.

Another suggested reform would be to improve the "relatively ineffective and confusing" system of food labeling and the imposition of tougher rules on food ingredients and advertising, initially with self-regulatory codes, but progressing to government regulation, if required, to force healthier reformulation's of foods and cuts to junk food advertisements targeting children.

The committee has called for immediate action regarding the weight loss industry, citing "disturbing evidence" about the effects of risky diet programs and says there appears to be a gray area where some products and programmes escape scrutiny by any regulating body and Australian consumers are left vulnerable to deception.

The Labor Government actively campaigned on preventative health measures and commissioned a national task force to advise on ways of reducing rates of obesity, tobacco and alcohol abuse and is now under increasing pressure to act - its National Preventative Health Task force report, due out shortly is expected to recommend junk food taxes and mandatory limits on trans and saturated fat contents in foods.

Other states such as South Australia and Queensland have warned they are prepared to act unilaterally to limit junk food advertising.

The committee says the government should establish a national register of lap band surgeries which could keep track of the how successful the procedure has been for patients.

The Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the government would consider the report along with the yet-to-be-released preventative health strategy from the Preventative Health Taskforce.

Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Dr. Andrew Pesce has backed the report, but says gastric banding surgery should only be used in extreme cases.

According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures almost three quarters of men and half of all women are overweight.