Sainsbury's boss: There is no such thing as unhealthy food

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12 April 2012

Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King has come under fire for claiming "there is no such thing as unhealthy products".

Senior MPs dismissed his comment as "self-serving nonsense" and "a food retailer's spin".

Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into behaviour change, Mr King said: "Our starting proposition is that there is no such thing as unhealthy products; there are unhealthy diets."

He stressed that he did not dispute that certain products may feature more highly in unhealthy diets.

But Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative chairman of the Commons health committee, said: "He is putting a food retailer's spin on the truth. There may not be absolutely healthy and absolutely unhealthy food. But there definitely are relatively healthy and relatively unhealthy products."

David Haslam, a GP and chairman of the National Obesity Forum charity, described Mr King's comment as "typical food and retail industry mantra", adding: "It's hard to defend a pork scratching as healthy food.

"I might choose a pork scratching as a one-off but I must be aware that it is profoundly unhealthy."

Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott dismissed Mr King's comment as "self-serving nonsense".

Sainsbury's, which prides itself on being the first UK retailer to introduce front of pack multiple traffic light labelling, rejected the criticism.

A spokesman said Mr King's comments had been taken out of context, adding: "Justin was simply stating that an occasional treat can form part of a balanced diet."

He added: "We always offer promotions on fresh fruit and vegetables and locate them at the front of our stores so that they are easy to find."

Mr King also told the Lords science and technology committee that Sainsbury's saw itself as having an "absolute responsibility to help our customers eat healthily and well".

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