Our approach to tackling obesity
There are growing political and societal concerns surrounding increasing levels of obesity. The food industry has a clear role to play in tackling this important public health issue.
Our approach
Each aspect of our approach to nutrition is crucial in the fight against obesity: nutritional improvements, labelling, product innovations, promoting behaviour change and responsible marketing.
Over the past three years we have taken a number of steps to help tackle obesity and the diseases associated with it:
on product formulation, we defined a unique set of metrics to help evaluate the optimal level of calories in our different foods based on the role they play in a person's diet, ie whether they are part of a main meal or a snack
we also continued to reduce the level of saturated and trans fats in our products, and as part of our communications, help people distinguish between 'good fats' (unsaturated) and 'bad fats' (trans and saturated)
on labelling, we committed to including clear information on all our packs about the calorific content of our products
to increase consumer choice, we continued to offer alternatives such as Hellmann's Original Mayonnaise (80% fat), Hellmann's Light (30% fat) and Hellmann's Extra Light (3% fat)
to encourage physical activity, we continued to support initiatives that encourage an active lifestyle and raise awareness of the risks of heart disease – such as marathon sponsorships and our partnership with the World Heart Federation
nutrition and health are a core part of our own employee well-being programme; and we help people manage their weight through our Slim.Fast range
on advertising to children, we have placed restrictions on our food and beverage marketing to children under 12 for all products except those that qualify for our Choices stamp.
Analysts' view
In 2008 Unilever was highly rated among the world's top food companies for our work to combat obesity: JPMorgan and Insight Investment's 'The Proof of the Pudding' report benchmarked ten of the world's largest food companies' response to obesity and related health concerns. The analysts gave us a score of more than 70%, noting particularly that:
"Unilever appears to have integrated concern about obesity centrally into its core business strategy. … the radical reformulation of its whole portfolio, bringing as many products as possible in line with FDA/EU nutrition standards, illustrates how it is delivering its Vitality mission. … Unilever has responded to threats to restrict food marketing by publishing a strong set of responsible marketing principles, especially with respect to children."
