Research has revealed that most of the world's top food companies show pathetically poor or no response to the global food-related health crisis.
The report prepared by London’s City University shows that the salt, fat and sugar contents of most food items had undergone very little change despite the targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2004 to overcome problems of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.It was found that only 10 of the giant 25 food companies had tried to reduce salt levels while only five had reported trying to reduce sugar. Only four reported a reduction in fat and only two, Kraft and McDonald's attempted to reduce portion sizes.
The report found that firms doing the most to avert the health crisis were those like McDonalds which had been criticized for their fatty and salty foods in their menu, proving that bad publicity was one of the surest ways of getting these companies to take the health of their consumers seriously.
The ten leading manufacturers included household names such as, Mars, Nestle, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Coca-Cola Co and Unilever. The four reporting a reduction in fat included McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC.
