9. 6. Statement: The Food and Drink Industry

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:19 pm on 22 November 2016.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 5:19, 22 November 2016

In the context of the sobering statistics on obesity and today’s announcement by Cancer Research UK that teenagers drink a bathtub full of sugary drinks every year—four to ten-year-olds half a bathtub—this extreme sugar consumption is something we have to combat. So, whilst the increase in exports of Welsh food and drink is welcome, I feel we need to spend a lot more time focusing on what we’re doing on a systemic basis to combat the obesity problem we have, particularly amongst young people. So my question is, really: what more can the Government do to promote the Food for Life charter mark? It has been adopted successfully by Flintshire council, which describes it as giving parents confidence in the school meal service and demonstrating their commitment to the school lunchtime experience, using locally produced food in the main so that people know where their food comes from and it’s of a certain standard. So, I salute Flintshire for its hard work, but I wondered what more can be done to ensure that all 22 local authorities are adopting the charter mark for catering for food.