Sainsbury's Boss is Right - There's no such thing as 'unhealthy' food

Sainsbury's Chief Executive caused a storm a few days ago by saying that 'there's no such thing as unhealthy food'.


"Well he would say that, wouldn't he?" was the collective response of many, and in particular from MPs concerned at the obesity timebomb that will soon explode, or maybe has already exploded, Mr Creosote-like, across the UK.


But the thing is - he's technically right.



No single item of food is 'healthy' or 'unhealthy' - it's only overall diets that can be classed as 'healthy' or 'unhealthy.'


So a cream doughnut, or a slice of chocolate cake, or a high-salt, high saturated fat microwaved meal won't kill you or make you unhealthy - by itself. If these are eaten once in a blue moon as part of an overall diet that is high in fresh fruit and veg, quite high in wholemeal carbs, fairly high in good quality protein and moderate in low-fat dairy then they're fine. Absolutely fine.


A carrot by itself won't do you any good; taken in isolation amongst a high fat, high salt, high sugar diet it is too small a portion to affect you for the better. In fact if you just lived on carrots and nothing else you would be sick as a dog. As part of the overall diet outlined above, however, carrots are very good for you indeed.


So in fact Justin King is technically correct. But this doesn't quite let his store, Sainsbury's, off the hook. Because a quick (or detailed) look through their shelves will reveal that the overall range of their products is pretty unhealthy. Like most large superstores they have a wide range of fruit and veg. So far so good. But a vast range of products they sell are highly processed, highly refined, high in salt, sugar and saturated fat. Even their breakfast cereals are too high in salt. (Although a lot of the blame for this lies with the manufacturers.)


Supermarkets are right to give consumers choice, and politicians are wrong to tell people what to eat. They should mind their own business. Providing people with enough information to make informed choices is fine, however. I don't think many people know, for example, that breakfast cereals in this country contain more salt than the equivalent products, sold by the same producers, in Australia. National tastes no doubt play a part. (Go to Asian countries and you'll notice that their soft drinks are much sweeter than in the West; that's how they like them over there.)


A financial incentive would probably be the best cure for national obesity. If everyone paid into a national health insurance scheme, then the premiums would go up or down depending on lifestyle choice. If you lowered your cholesterol your premiums would fall; if you did less exercise and piled on the pounds then the amount you paid would increase. A pretty powerful incentive. But when all health treatment is 'free', regardless of the damage you've been inflicting on your body through your lifestyle choices, then there's less incentive to make those choices healthy ones. Our health system breeds unhealthiness. A European-style insurance system might address it. But that's an argument for another day.