Is Britain eating itself to death?

Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 39, Issue 1

More than 2.6 million men and women in the UK are suffering from Coronary Heart Disease (Heart Research UK). Despite health warnings, diseases of the heart and circulatory system account for 208,000 deaths in the UK annually. Diet is a major contributory factor to the appalling levels of illness and death associated with coronary heart disease.

The over-consumption of saturated fat has been linked to heart disease and this is of particular concern considering that 88 per cent of British men and 83 per cent of British women, according to the FSA, are eating too much. How then do we develop a healthier way of eating and living, and how do we navigate our way through the sat fat jungle? Who is responsible? Should food companies simply make food with less sat fat? Do we need more education or just be left alone? Is it an individual’s responsibility to eat less saturated fat or a national concern?

With heart disease a major killer in the UK, a puzzled public urgently needs the answers to these questions.