France takes action on 'junk' food, alcopops

France has a relatively low level of obesity at around 10 per cent of the population (in the US, the rate is nearer 23 per cent), helped by a long history of eating good food and avoiding snacks. But even France's gastronomic tradition has not been enough to stem the tide of (largely) US fast food and soft drink companies from entering the country, and young French consumers are just as likely to eat a takeaway hamburger washed down with a super-sized cola as they are prepare their own food at home.

Concerned about rising levels of childhood obesity (running at around 16-19 per cent), the French government last week took steps to make it harder for school children to get a taste for sweet, fattening and energy-rich foods by banning the sale of such products through automatic vending machines placed in schools - a factor frequently blamed for the far higher levels of childhood obesity in the US, where vending machines are widespread.

The ban, which will come into force from September 2005, is part of a wider package of public health regulations that also include a new tax on food and drink advertisers. Companies will now have to add public health warnings to all their TV adverts or face a levy of 1.5 per cent of their advertising budget which will go directly to the INPES, the body which promotes healthy living.

French food companies' advertising expenditure on 'junk' food such as biscuits, sweets, snacks, chocolate and soft drinks is estimated at more than €200 million a year.

The food industry, not surprisingly, has opposed the plans, and some opposition accused the government of pampering to their demands by reducing the levy form its originally proposed level of 5 per cent levy. Some schools have also criticised the move, as the 8,000 or so vending machines are seen as a much-needed source of income.

The public health bill has also targeted premixed alcoholic beverages such as Smirnoff Ice, launched in France last year and seen by many as promoting the consumption of strong alcohol among drinkers. These drinks, which combine alcohol such as vodka with sugar-heavy sweet mixers, will be subject to "dissuasive"​ taxation, MPs agreed.

The impact of the new French regulations will be watched closely by food and drink companies in the UK, where lobbyists have stepped up calls for tighter regulation of advertising and marketing to children (and where obesity levels are generally much higher). While France's regulators stopped short of the ban on advertising of junk food called for by many UK lobbyists, the tax on advertisers is close to the so-called 'fat tax' sought by many across the Channel, and its effect on food advertising will be tracked closely by British companies.

But it is the US which has the biggest 'problem' with junk food sales in schools. A recent survey of vending machines in American schools found that 75 per cent of the drinks and 85 per cent of the snacks sold were of poor nutritional value. The study, carried out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), found that only 14 per cent of the soft drinks were diet, and 12 per cent of the drinks available were water.

Just 5 per cent of drink options were milk but of those, 57 per cent were high-fat whole or 2 per cent milk.

Confectionery (42 per cent), potato chips (25 per cent) and sweet baked goods (13 per cent) accounted for 80 per cent of the snacking options. Of 9,723 snack slots in all the vending machines surveyed, only 26 slots contained fruits or vegetables.

The CSPI report also looked at the financial viability of machines stocked with 'healthy' options. "Despite the financial pressures on school systems that lead them to sell junk food in the first place, some schools are voluntarily setting higher nutrition standards for vending machine foods,"​ the CSPI said.

"Those school districts are doing well financially by doing good - in other words, they are not experiencing a drop-off in revenue by switching to healthier foods."​

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets detailed standards for nutrient content and portion sizes for the official school meals, but currently has little authority to regulate foods sold outside those meals, whether in vending machines or a la carte (snack) lines in cafeterias.

France's move could add further fuel to the debate over whether the government in the US should play a tougher role in regulating vending machines as well - even if it means treading on the toes of big business such as Coca-Cola or PepsiCo, who often supply the machines and stock at knockdown prices.