Page 3735 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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how much is enough. There are a lot of people out there who want to make smarter decisions but do not know how they can find that nutritional labelling. They find it quite confusing. We need to demystify some of these measurements. If having kilojoules up on menu boards gets people comfortable with the measurement, this is a productive step forward for our community.
The other positive that comes with Ms Bresnan’s bill is the likelihood that fast food franchises will decide to improve their recipes and their food because that high kilojoule content will be out there and people will be seeing exactly what they are putting into their mouths. This has happened overseas with some pizza chains and Starbucks. They have changed what they have been serving.
There is also a lot of false advertising out there where people think that they are choosing healthy options, but they really they are not. So this scheme will also address that problem. And I know that this has happened where you have the healthy choice and where the basic ingredients put in the healthy choice option are quite healthy, but the food is then smothered in some sort of mayonnaise or sauce which completely sends it to the other end of the scale.
I would like to add that some arguments against the bill put forward by those who do not want to comply with the bill fail to acknowledge that this is equally an opportunity for businesses to differentiate themselves and point out that they have a better quality product on offer. New South Wales have adopted this scheme, as I said, and it would be silly for us not to proceed when we know that the vast majority of businesses that will be affected will have to comply with the New South Wales scheme. So its imposition here will create no new burden for them and will return a great benefit to the broader Canberra community
Just to address Mr Hanson, he said that the Canberra Liberals are worried about the cost that this will have on businesses. But, as I said, this covers seven businesses or more, which is not the local corner shop. I would also like the Liberals to consider what the cost is of not dealing with obesity and chronic disease and that ongoing cost into the coming decades. If we do not tackle it, it will be part of what I have heard the health minister call the health tsunami. The collective cost to taxpayers in coming years as health costs increase will be enormous, and we need to do everything we can to be putting in place those sorts of preventative health ideas and initiatives to keep our community as healthy as possible.
I also note this kind of fast food labelling scheme is expected, as I said, to be implemented in the coming years across a range of jurisdictions that have not only Labor governments but also Liberal governments. So that is why I ask the Canberra Liberals, who have announced that they will be opposing this legislation, to look at the fact that their counterparts in other jurisdictions are seriously considering this and moving forward on this issue. I would like them to reconsider their position.
Mr Hanson said that of course the Canberra Liberals are concerned about obesity and the health impacts of obesity. Well, this bill today is one way that we can put in place very simple information that demystifies what is in the food product you are buying and allows people to be able to make the right choices for them and the right choices for their children.
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