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Health expert calls for a full ban on supermarket meal deals
Dr. O’Shea believes there’s a level of peer pressure behind the meal deals
A health expert has called for a full ban on the budget meal deals found in supermarkets like Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Boots.
The humble supermarket meal deal has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon here in the UK, with there even been a Facebook community page dedicated to the cost-effective lunch-time buy.
However, one health expert has spoken out against the popular lunch-time deals with claims that they could be contributing directly to the UK’s obesity crisis.
Dr. Donal O’Shea, the HSE’s clinical lead, has called for meal deals to be taken off the shelves and, eventually, to be made illegal in a bid to get the British public eating healthily again.
Appearing on NewsTalk’s The Pat Kenny Show last week, Dr. O’Shea said these deals almost always include solely unhealthy food options and therefore should be banned.
He said: “The industry has the statistics and they know how to prompt and promote consumption.
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“And 70% of people will say no the first time, but if the person behind the counter says ‘well are you sure, it’s a good offer’. Then another 30% will say ‘ah yeah, go on’.
“They are actually trained because the industry has the stats and they know how to prompt and they know how to promote consumption.
“We just have to be super aware of that and try to resist it. Those buy one get one free offers are always around the high fat, high salt, high sugar stuff, never around fruit.
“Literally, that should be illegal.”
His comments come after a major report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that obesity is responsible for 200,000 cancer cases and 1.2 million deaths a year across Europe.
Discussing the report’s findings, Dr. O’Shea added: “We’re beginning to see the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on weight patterns in young people…We have a kind of population separation.
“About 2% of the population are super fit, have abs and bodies to die for. And the rest of us have fallen into what is now 65% adults overweight or obese and unfortunately the childhood stats have not improved.”