So CHOICE took a look at the nutritional composition of a range of popular takeaway meals:

• Chinese
• Thai
• Italian

The same meal cooked by different restaurants can vary widely in nutrient content, so we used average values from Australian food composition tables to find out which meals are the healthier options and which are packed with salt, fat and excess kilojoules. The report is available on the CHOICE website www.choice.com.au.

We’ve also listed some quick, easy cook-at-home recipes that are healthy, delicious and fast.

Got any tips for healthy food choices? We’d love to hear them!

Children are exposed to around 10 television food ads every day and almost two thirds of these are for unhealthy foods.

Go to www.burgercorp.com.au and send an email to Nicola Roxon urging an introduction of a ban on junk food advertising to children (tell her your own story too). And feel free to send the link on to your friends and family.

“The food industry is incredibly competitive so the company that figures out how to deliver those [offerings] will be the company that wins – and leading companies are starting to do so.”

Consumers, he says, desperately need healthier food options that are easier and more fun and more rewarding. And food companies should be introducing healthier products that consumers want to eat.

Rather than taking an adversarial role, consumer groups and food companies should identify the common ground and use this as the basis for innovation.

“We can be collaborators and if you want to propose an unlikely partnership, you’ll get a much more receptive audience that you would have five years ago. Companies are stepping up to the plate.”

CHOICE’s position on what corporations, consumers and government need to do to combat the obesity epidemic can be found on our campaign page.

You can view Mr Leach’s presentation below:

| View | Upload your own

CHOICE Congress page – links to all available content
The Consumers International YouTube page – video interviews with speakers and delegates
The slideshare.net congress page – powerpoint presentations
The Consumers International web site – links to most content.

More content is being uploaded as soon as it is available.

We will try to obtain any missing presentations and papers as soon as possible.

Cheers, the CHOICE Vod Pod Blog team.

A flowchart illustrating all the causes of obesity resembles the scrawling of an excited child.

“It’s absolutely accurate”, obesity expert Boyd Swinburn assures, “Because most things surrounding this global epidemic are interconnected.”

The illustration also brings home an important point – just because we know the determinants of a problem doesn’t mean it will lead us to a viable solution.

Recent studies show a range of factors affecting differences in individual body weight. The variation in obesity rates seems to depend largely on environmental and cultural factors including eating habits rather than how wealthy a country is.

A simple explanation is that when food is abundant and cheap, people will consume more of it. But corporations also play an important role in affecting our food choices, Professor Swinburn says.

“The rising level of food consumption is a sign of commercial succeess but economic failure. The fact that we are consuming a lot is a mark of good commerce – but is it really meeting our needs? Our choices are often dominated by the fulfillment of short term desires.”

Professor Swinburn suggests that corporations should play a part in working out a solution by:

• Supporting government policy actions for improved public health
• Banning marketing to children
• Labelling with traffic lights
• Making nutritional claims that are realistic

CHOICE’s position on responses to the obesity epidemic can be found on our campaign page.

• Consumer groups push for tighter junk food restrictions – ABC
• Bad products to be named and shamed – The Age
• Push to ban soft drink ads for young – SMH
• Irresponsible companies in firing line – AdelaideNOW
• Consumer mouse that is roaring – SMH
• Call to go hard on soft drinks – The Herald Sun
• Consumer council invited to congress – Fiji Village
• Call to ban soft drink marketing to kids – NineMSN
• Marketing ban on soft drinks – Live News
• Call to ban softdrink marketing to under-16s

Do you have a link to share? Please share it with us via comments.

While corporations continue to profit, and the fast food industry continues to expand, what can consumer organisations do to protect children from irresponsible food advertising?

In today’s food marketing side event, speakers from the UK, US, Australia and India shared tips and experiences on their respective battles against junk food marketing.

The level of government control over advertising differs largely between countries. Most countries aim to move towards a system that limits TV advertising to children and the introduction of “nutrition profiling”.

The UK is seen to be a role model in having “traffic lights system” in food labelling and its plans to implement a 9pm “watershed” for advertising food high in salt, sugar and fat.

There is an incredible sense of frustration from parents who are bombarded by all sorts of promotions,” Sue Davies form UK’s Which? Magazine said.

Ms Davies also suggests it is important to monitor ads during programs that are watched by a large number of children, rather than shows that are designed for children only.

Clare Hughes from CHOICE points out that online games, competitions and product promotions are influencing children’s food choices as much as traditional TV ads. The challenge remains for the government to assume a bigger role in regulating the industry and a having a simpler complaint process for consumers.

The US is “halfway between Australia and UK” in terms of progress against junk food ads, according to Bruce Silverglade from US’s centre for Science in the Public Interest.

There are industry codes of practice, but they are largely voluntary.

It makes no sense to say it’s up to the parents to control children’s eating habits and then allow the industry to spend billions of dollars to undermine these values,” he said.

What is your experience and where does your country fit in along the spectrum of government regulation? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think.

With the rising concern over childhood obesity in many parts of the world, it’s hard to ignore the fact that manufacturers are still pushing junk food to children through product promotions (think Shrek appeal) and mainstream media.
CHOICE is concerned about the negative influence of marketing on children’s food choices and we have been campaigning for better regulation. But with increasingly sophisticated advertising and little government intervention, the role of the consumer advocate is more important than ever. This is an international problem – in order to effect real change we need to take a global approach.

On Monday 29 October, CI members from all over the world will come together and talk about the key challenges relating to food marketing, and share the lessons they’ve learnt, in a series of food marketing fringe events.

The line up of international speakers includes Sue Davies from Which? Magazine in the UK, Bruce Silverglade from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (USA), and Bharath Jairaj from the Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), India.

CHOICE’s own Clare Hughes, Senior Food Policy Officer, will be speaking on the subject of food marketing regulation in Australia.

The day will wrap up with an interactive panel discussion for CI members to share their experience and success stories, giving speakers and participants a chance to trade tips and ideas.

This will be a great kick-off to Tuesday’s keynote address on the Obesity Pandemic, which will feature leading obesity expert Professor Boyd Swinburn, and Brock H. Leach recently retired from soft drink giant PepsiCo.

Expect lively debate and the chance to meet other consumer advocates at this fringe event.

The theme of the congress is Holding Corporations to Account. Consumer demands for corporate accountability, transparency and responsibility have never been so pressing: whether it’s unethical marketing, sustainable consumption, credit and debt, or what we eat — consumers are losing trust in companies and are calling for change.

More than 300 delegates from around the world will hear from a range of internationally renowned experts and take part in key policy debates and workshops.

The programme focuses on the need for corporate accountability within CI’s key campaign areas:

• Unethical drug promotion
• Sustainable consumption
• Food marketing and obesity
• Consumer credit and debt

What: 18th Consumers International World Congress
When: 29 October to 1 November 2007
Where: Luna Park, Sydney