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WHO
Urges Food Chiefs
to Join Fight for Better Diet
GENEVA (Reuters) -
The world's top health body told bosses of food and drink multinationals,
including Coca-Cola and McDonald's, on Friday they could play
a key role in shifting public taste in its campaign for healthier
diets worldwide.
The World Health Organization has
warned that some 60 percent of the 56.6 million deaths each year
around the globe are due to non-communicable illnesses such as
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers and respiratory diseases
brought on by smoking, lack of exercise and bad eating habits.
"We believe that companies like
yours can make a major contribution toward easing this (disease)
burden and promoting healthier diets and lifestyles," WHO director-general
Gro Harlem Brundtland told the executives from companies such
as Nestle, Coca-Cola and McDonald's.
WHO member states are due to sign
the first international treaty to combat smoking later this month
and the U.N. agency is committed to presenting a "global strategy"
on diet and physical activity to its 2004 annual meeting.
In preparation for that global
plan, WHO is holding talks with the food industry, interested
groups and member states.
A recent report by WHO and sister
U.N. agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommended
cutting down on fats, sugars and salt, and increasing consumption
of vegetables and fruit, saying such changes would have a major
impact on the death toll from the so-called "lifestyle" diseases.
Some findings were contested by
the food industry, notably the U.S. sugar industry, which objected
to the report setting a ceiling of 10 percent for sugar in an
overall diet.
"We would like to see real moves
to cut the amount of fat, sugars and salt in foods. We think that
consumers have a basic right to know what they are eating and
the effects it can have on them," former Norwegian prime minister
Brundtland said.
Reference
Source 89
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