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UN Food Chief: Time for a Junk Food Crackdown

CBN

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Should world health officials impose taxes on unhealthy food? The United Nation's lead food expert says "yes."

Olivier De Shutter, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right to food, says obesity has become more dangerous than tobacco use and that the international community needs to do more to prevent it.

De Shutter is calling U.N. members to tax unhealthy foods, limit access to foods high in saturated fats, salt and sugar, and boost food distribution from local producers.

"Governments have been focusing on increasing calorie availability," he noted in a speech at the World Health Organization's annual summit.

"But they have often been indifferent to what kind of calories... at what price, to whom they are made available, and how they are marketed," he continued.

"Just as the world came together to regulate the risks of tobacco, a bold framework convention on adequate diets must now be agreed," he admonished.

How effective will De Shutter's proposal be in combatting unhealthy eating patterns long term? Dr. Linda Mintle, a family therapist and author of several healthy living books, talks about that and more on CBN Newswatch, May 22.

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