Vegemite, blue cheese, jams under threat due to salt, fat, sugar content

[BANKS]

VEGEMITE, blue cheese and traditional jams and preserves could be forced off grocery shelves if a government taskforce wins Canberra's support for new limits on salt, fat and sugar content. The Australian Food and Grocery Council has attacked the Rudd Government's preventive health taskforce, challenging its credibility over fat taxes and other proposals it says could make the obesity problem worse.

A submission to the taskforce, obtained by The Australian, warns that the industry would "not support, nor be party to" plans to introduce costly regulations without proof of their effectiveness in helping people shed excess kilos.

"The AFGC is disappointed that (the) National Preventative Health Taskforce has chosen to risk the credibility of its report to government through failing to base its considerations first and foremost on scientific evidence, rather than conjecture and supposition," it says.

The Government set up the taskforce last year to recommend ways to tackle preventable health problems such as obesity, which cost Australia an estimated $8.3billion in 2008.

The taskforce's final report, due in June, is one of the most eagerly anticipated of all the health reviews under way.

They propose extra taxes on "energy-dense" foods; regulating fat, salt and sugar content in food and drink; and banning advertising of unhealthy foods to children and eliminating them from school vending machines.

The council last year pre-empted the junk-food advertising ban by signing up its members, which included Coca-Cola Amatil, Nestle and Sara Lee, to self-regulatory curbs on their promotions to children.

But the council, which represents 80 per cent of the highly processed food, drink and grocery products sector, has clearly signalled in its submission that it will retreat only so far.

"Producing foods that consumers don't buy will result in industry failure," its submission says.

AFGC director for health, nutrition and scientific affairs Geoffrey Annison said food such as Vegemite, which is high in salt, could be among the casualties if food content were regulated. "Vegemite without salt is not Vegemite," he said.

Sugar-rich preserves and jams, and even high-fat products such as soft cheeses and cooking oils, could be banned for health reasons, Dr Annison warned.

Read more of this story at The Australian

This is a ****ing joke, how unaustralian is this...

A dash of democracy with a sprinkle of communism

[STEALTHY™]

Oh god, ****off. If people want to choose to eat shit food, let them!


Next you know we'll all only be drinking water cause everything else is bad for you!

[minux]

This country is sinking quick with this communist bunch of arse suckers attempting to run the country.

[ProphetVX]

The sooner they get vegemite off our shelves the better

[Emackulation]

AusFAILia.....welcome to the future.

[PaulSV6]

Whats next!!!!!

[Troy711]

Shoulda kept the Libs in...

[Grennan]

Next the Government will be wrapping us in bubble wrap to avoid us getting those deadly cuts and grazes weve all been hearing about.

[TVR-190]

and theyll make it so you cant buy used cars.

had a friend who bought a used car once, 8 years later - BAM, cancer.

[quick308]

oh man ffs. next thing you know they might start trying to ban beer because it will make you put on weight in large amounts. why dont we just ban fat people

[DavidPartay]

How about we ban the government from having IDIOTS voted in?

Here's a better idea:

Spend money on making healthy food cheaper. Make fruit and vegetable seeds cheaper. Encourage people to grow their own by subsidising fruit and vegetable garden components such as compost, soil, fertilizer, pots, etc.

Let's try a POSITIVE encouragement instead of all this negative banning of everything Rudd and Gillard think of.

[minux]

How about we ban the government from having IDIOTS voted in?

To do that you need to stop idiots voting...

[DavidPartay]

I know, but that really seems to be becoming a pipe dream in this country...

[MasterOfReality]

Hahah, personally I'm loving it.

I really like watching all my friends who got conned by the Australian Labor/Union Party gradually realise that they made a big mistake at the last election.

Keep em coming Rudd, more of this communist-esq rubbish and you will be a guarenteed one termer.

[minux]

Hang on, I missed soemthing, the government actually created a taskforce to check out blue cheese, vegemite and Jam?

How about just denying the fat slobs medicare etc?

[TVR-190]

maybe Rudds a peanut butter person

[VLDavo]

lol be **** funny if it got banned ant it became a black market food.. instead of slanging dope kids will be slanging satchets of vegimite and jam on the corner lol

[Cobez]

What a ****ing joke. It's not the food that's causing people to become obese, it's people's bloody eating habits. Instead of taking away certain foods, how about focussing on providing more programs designed to HELP obese people, not rob everyone who ISN'T obese of foods they may enjoy.

This country is turning to complete shit. It seems any sector of the general public will have their whinging and bitching taken into account now by the government. If every group, organisation and sector got their ways, we wouldn't be allowed to eat, drink, crap, sleep, drive, ride, work, blink or bloody live.

**** off. It seems the plan now is to either tax, or ban anything that can cause any form of negativity in a group of the general public.

[PORT3R]

Wow... are they ****ing serious?!?!

[SAV_117]

thats ****en stupid what about maccas or hungry jacks or somethin ****en labour party trying to run our lives this is ****ed. i think maybe every person who voted in THIS LOSER RUDD SHOULD THINK TWICE than a third time than maybe one more time because this is ****en stupid im gonna eat as much vegimite as i bloody well want

[Joey_21]

y dont they ban every fkn single product that has preservatives in it its worse then fat...... preservatives is what is causing some cancers we wont be drinking water either cos its full of chemicals or breathing because theres so much shit in the air i say live how u want eat what u want do what u want because u could walk out of ur house and die tomorrow or in 80 years

[I drive a VL Commodore]

If Vegemite is banned someone will be receiving a letter containing Vegemite powder in the mail....

Adding food bans on top of Mandatory Internet Censorship.... this bastards gonna' get himself shot real quick.

Food doesn't cause obesity - lazy fat tards cause obesity. I am carrying a few extra kilo's around with me and you know what? It's my own damn fault. Eating fish&chips from the takeaway 3 times a week for years on end I expect to be a bit rotund. And if he bans fish&chips I'll kill the arseclown myself.

[greenfoam]

It not the eating of shonky food that makes people fat it's the NON eating of raw foods that actually has a nutrient in it : ). DavidPartay's dreams are a bit closer to what is needed. At least a couple goverment grown fruit trees and a few packets of veggie seeds should be shipped out every 6 months ? it would be alot cheaper than hosptital bills and days off. In the end the eviroment we all live in is polluted to the shit anyway. All the smaller bugs and animals are half stuffed allready and it's wotking it way up to the tougher larger animals that take longer to kill like us

[ashbox]

if they ban vegemite, jams and cheese the fat peopel might sue for making them fat.lol

[Morton]

Holy hell, I think I'm going to have to move to a real democracy like China.