The Department of Health has joined forces with a wide range of food manufacturers including Asda, Quorn and Uncle Ben’s, with ITV to host the first ever health-focused ad break, which will air during Coronation Street.
Made by Aardman, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, the Change4Life advert will reveal there are 17 sugar cubes in a bottle of cola and more than a wine glass of fat in a large pizza.
The ‘ad takeover’ is the main focus of the campaign which aims to encourage the public to think about the ‘hidden nasties’ in everyday foods so they can better manage the amount of salt, fat and sugar in their diets. A range of healthy eating tools and information from recipes to money off vouchers are also being made available.
Supermarkets including Asda, Aldi and the Co-operative are also offering discounts on healthier products across their stores.
Those who sign up to the Be Food Smart campaign will get a free Food Smart Meal Mixer, a flip-book with quick and easy healthy recipes to try with, it claims, enough combinations to eat a different daily menu every day for six years.
Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said, ‘Making healthier, balanced meals on a budget can be a challenge for families. This new Change4Life campaign offers families free healthy recipes and money off those much needed cupboard essentials to encourage everyone to try healthy alternatives.
‘Thanks to the continuing success of Change4Life, a million mums have changed their behaviour. But England has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe with over 60 per cent of adults and a third of 10 and 11 year olds overweight or obese.’
She added, ‘We want to make it easy for everyone to keep track of what they eat and make healthier choices. That is why we are also developing a simple and clear system for front of pack labelling that everyone can use.’
