FOOD POLICE
The food police are at it again. This time, they want to slap a punitive tax upon chocolate, and plough the extra money back into the NHS – to treat and fight obesity! I suspect that, rather as the avid smoker will always find enough money to buy his ciggies, the chocoholic will feed his (or, more significantly, her) craving before buying cruciferous veggies and wholemeal bread in the weekly groceries. A chocolate tax wouldn’t result in slimmer waistlines, just lighter wallets. That’s the view of the Food and Drink Federation – but then, they would say that, wouldn’t they? It’s in their interests that we go on worshipping the great God Chocolate, particularly at this time of year! Let’s be honest, chocolate is controversial stuff. We have been brainwashed by decades of expensive advertising to view it as a gleaming, tantalising luxury whereas it is really a glutinous slime of congealed, highly processed fat and sugar – with absolutely no redeeming qualities except maybe the tiniest amount of calcium within the milk content! But it has an almost magic hold upon us as a species. Since the 16th century, when it first came to Europe from South America (where it was a popular but bitter drink), we have loved it. We added sugar, of course. Now we in Britain have the sweetest tasting chocolate in the world – and the past 15 years has seen a doubling in cases of type 2 diabetes. As Dr David Walker, a Lanarkshire GP, told a BMA conference in Clydebank, that the two facts are directly related. "With the best intentions, parents and grandparents will pop a chocolate button into a baby's mouth in the first two or three months. The baby smiles and everyone is happy. But babies and young children are on their way to being addicted to chocolate before they can even walk." In fact, he reckons many people, just by eating a small box of choccies in front of the TV, are consuming their recommended daily calorie intake (2,500 calories) in chocolate alone. Large bars of chocolate, containing around 1,250 calories, are being eaten by people after their lunch. I’ve seen cinema goers get through several bars, a tub of popcorn and a fizzy drink in just one movie – so I know he has a point! Women are particularly passionate about the stuff. All sorts of studies and surveys have been carried out to investigate – mostly funded by the chocolate industry itself. There are myths about chocolate’s addictive qualities – and even crazy ideas that it’s actually good for us. It contains chemicals called catechins, which are believed to protect against heart disease and cancer. Tea is also meant to have catechins – so the inevitable (and highly marketable) conclusion is that a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit may not be just a welcome break but a healthy regime! It all just adds to the wonder quality, which is, of course, great for sales. So does the GP from Lanarkshire have a point? If we demand freedom of choice, to eat what we want, then shouldn’t we at least be aware that chocolate is such a health hazard? Perhaps a warning on every bar? Or at least a calorie count? Of course, it won’t happen – because chocolate is part of the enormous confectionary industry – one of the few that isn’t suffering during this recession. Big Sugar. Nearly as powerful a force as Big Tobacco or Big Pharmaceuticals. So it’s unlikely we’ll get public health warnings on the wrapper – they’d never agree on the science. But I’m all for empowerment through knowledge. So let’s have a warning about the calorie count (that’s already in tiny print on the back) in huge letters, all over the front. A two finger Kit-Kat – 106 cals. A Cadbury’s Crème Egg 170 cals. A Small (49g) bar of Daily Milk – 255 cals. It may not paint the complete picture of chocolate’s effect on your health – such as its possible contribution to the nation’s diabetes time bomb – but I’d certainly find myself thinking twice! Perhaps it would also act as a warning to the industry – beware, your product has health implications and therefore perhaps even long term health liabilities. In the meantime, perhaps London Mayor Boris Johnson has come up with a more novel way to get us trim and fit. He’s speeding up the walking time on pedestrian crossings – to get traffic moving but also make pedestrians fitter. Under current rules, pedestrians must be given 1.2 seconds to cover one metre of road. Boris is thinking of cutting 6 seconds off the time allotted. It sounds like one of those questions we used to get in Maths exams, doesn’t it? If an obese Londoner, weighing 20 stones, walks at 1.2 metres per second and needs to cross a 12 metre road with two bags of shopping and a pushchair with a screaming toddler, how long will it be before she loses weight and gets fit? Hmmm. It could work in the battle of the bulge. But not quickly. Better try giving up chocolate! |
