The Dutch Council for Health and Social Affairs (RVS) has recommended that the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport offer financial incentives to supermarkets that provide enough healthy food. According to the RVS, unhealthy diets are the second leading avoidable cause of death and lost healthy life years after smoking.
Half of all adults in the Netherlands are overweight and this proportion is likely to rise in the future, according to the study. According to the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), the proportion of overweight people will increase to 64% by 2050. Every year, unhealthy diets are estimated to cause nearly 13,000 deaths and 6 billion euros in health care costs.
Jet Bussemaker, chairman of RVS, believes that supermarkets play a key role in promoting healthy eating in the Netherlands. Currently, 79% of supermarket foods are not included in the Schijf van Vijf (Five Elements of a Healthy Diet). “We want supermarkets that set a good example to get more social and economic benefits from it and be rewarded for it,” Bussemaker said.
Instead, the RVS has proposed fines for supermarkets that continue to sell large amounts of unhealthy food, a mechanism known as the “bonus-malussysteem system.”Specific measures have not yet been defined, but initial directions have been outlinedThe RVS has not yet specified the specific implementation of the “reward-punishment system”, but suggests a number of possible measures, such as:
Reduce the amount of salt and fat in own-brand foodsDisplay healthy foods in a prominent place in the supermarket
Formulate a unified food health assessment system to avoid the use of different labelling systems in supermarkets, which will cause consumer confusion.The RVS also recommended that the government set up an expert committee to further refine the system design. “We wanted to explore whether this could be an effective way to nudge industries like supermarkets to contribute to public health,” Bussemaker explained.In addition, RVS recommends that this system be extended to all food sellers in the future, including fast food restaurants, restaurants and food service businesses.
The supermarket industry’s response: Welcome health labels, but suspicious of the “reward-punishment system”
CBL, the supermarket trade body, acknowledges that supermarkets can improve when it comes to their healthy food offerings, pointing out that they have been reducing the amount of salt, sugar and fat in their food for years. In addition, CBL said it now has a healthy food scoring system, Nutri-Score, which has been implemented on all supermarket own-brand products. CBL is calling for the Nutri-Score system to be made mandatory for all food products in the Netherlands to harmonize consumer choice criteria.
However, CBL has reservations about the “reward-punishment system” proposed by RVS, arguing that A more effective way would be to eliminate value-added tax (BTW) on healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits and products with a or B Nutri-Score. “This can really stimulate consumers to buy healthier products,” CBL said.
The government has said it supports the promotion of healthy eating, but it needs to be considered carefullyIn an interview with NOS, Vincent Karremans, Secretary of State for Youth Affairs, Prevention and Sport, stressed the important role of supermarkets in promoting healthy eating. “It should be easier for consumers to make healthy choices when they shop,” he said.
Mr Karremans said the RVS ‘proposed system of rewards and penalties would be “carefully assessed”, but said it could raise “practical and legal issues”. He wants clear targets with supermarkets and expects companies to take concrete action.
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