Health groups representing millions of patients, doctors and nutritionists across the continent have written an open letter to EU leaders, including Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen and Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.
The groups are calling on the EU leaders to prioritise preventative policies to promote healthy and sustainable diets when formulating a food and agriculture vision for the bloc.
The groups, which include the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) and Caring Doctors in the Netherlands, also expressed consternation at the lack of health representation in policy discussions around the future of food and agriculture in Europe so far.
They pointed in particular to their exclusion from the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture in the EU last summer.
With the opening of applications for the European Board on Agriculture and Food at the end of last week, health groups are pressing the commission to prove its commitment to an inclusive dialogue by accepting their participation this time.
Some measures they want are implemented are as follows:
- Mandatory food reformulation policies improving health and nutritional profile of processed food, including an explicit call to the commission to as soon as possible present a policy proposal on ready-made meals. This policy would establish mandatory food composition targets for added sugars, salt, saturated fat and calories, as well as ingredients such as meat, dairy, vegetables, legumes and wholegrains;
- An established European Board on Agri-Food (EBAF), including health representation;
- Updated EU rules on public procurement in favour of healthy and sustainable foods, complemented with an update of the EU school scheme;
- A recommended framework for National Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in member states, taking into account latest scientific literature on healthy and sustainable diets;
- An EU Action Plan on Plant-based Foods (incl. production and consumption) by 2026;
- Fiscal incentives (e.g. VAT reductions on healthier and more sustainable products);
- A mandatory policy to restrict or ban the marketing of foods high in saturated and trans fats, sugars and salt to which children and adolescents are exposed to;
- Updated European legislation on reliable, comprehensive, EU wide, comparable and transparent nutritional food labelling, e.g. by making the nutri-score mandatory.
Health groups
Director general of EPHA, Dr. Milka Sokolovic said that health groups are extending their hand to bring their necessary scientific expertise into the policy debate and to ensure a focus on essential policies and incentives to steer the food market towards healthier, more sustainable products for consumers.
She said: “From a public health perspective, our food system is a ticking time bomb; in addition to the enormous issue of unhealthy diets severely impacting people’s health, it remains the case that more than 60% of antibiotics are used in animal farming.
“We’re not only accelerating antimicrobial resistance, but also creating the perfect conditions for future pandemic.
“It would be short-sighted not to include health groups in the conversation about food and the risk of failing to prioritise prevention-focused policies threatens to deepen our existing health crisis. We need systemic change now.”
The letter calls for EU institutions to focus on improving food environments through policy, instead of leaving patients, consumers, healthcare professionals and budgets to bear the burden of diet-related diseases.
Around €700 billion EU healthcare budget is spent on treating non-communicable diseases each year, the vast majority of which are influenced by unhealthy diets, according to the health groups.
Strategic preventive measures in the food market, such as a policy on ready-made meals, could be a better investment and a win-win-win for people, pockets and the planet, they have argued.
Chair of Caring Doctors, Dr. Patrick Deckers added: “In the Netherlands, we’re starting to witness the power of medical professionals and organisations uniting for preventive health and better food policies.
“Our strong support of this EU-wide initiative was the logical next step; we have the chance to reshape our food system into a healthy and sustainable one. But the voice of the health sector needs to be heard.”