Motsoaledi urges crackdown on unhealthy food and alcohol marketing

Health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has warned that South Africa is losing the fight against lifestyle diseases, saying the country cannot afford to ignore the powerful commercial forces driving unhealthy eating and drinking habits.

Speaking at the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) inquiry into the country’s food system on Thursday, Motsoaledi said South Africa was moving away from battling mainly infectious diseases such as HIV, Aids and tuberculosis (TB) and was entering a far more expensive era of diabetes, cancer and other non-communicable diseases.

“We are in the middle of a transition that is deadly,” he told the commission.

Representing the department of health on the fourth day of the second leg of the inquiry, Motsoaledi urged the commission to recommend stronger action against what he called the commercial determinants of health.

He referred to industries that profit from products linked to poor health outcomes, including alcohol, tobacco, sugary drinks and foods high in salt and sugar.

He said the government introduced the health promotion levy, commonly known as the sugar tax, to reduce excessive sugar consumption rather than raise revenue.

Motsoaledi said commercial interests often frustrated the government’s efforts to improve public health.

“In other words, you are saying, allow me to poison the public, but educate them about my poison,” he said, referring to criticism that the government should focus only on public education instead of regulating unhealthy products.

He said companies spent enormous amounts marketing products that contributed to poor health, while the government struggled to compete.

By about 2013, alcohol companies were already spending about R1bn a year on advertising their products, he said.

“You don’t spend R1bn advertising your product unless you know you are getting many times that back.”

Motsoaledi questioned the impact of health education when children constantly see famous sports stars promoting alcohol.

“You show a young person somebody they admire advertising beer, then the next day a teacher tells them alcohol is dangerous. Who are they going to believe?” he asked.

He also praised international efforts to ban the marketing of infant formula, saying encouraging breastfeeding had saved millions of babies worldwide despite fierce lobbying from multinational companies.

During the hearing, commissioners asked whether South Africa’s health laws provided enough protection for nutrition.

Motsoaledi acknowledged that the National Health Act contains only two direct references to nutrition: one recognising basic nutrition as part of health care and another protecting children’s right to basic nutrition and healthcare services.

“If the commission wishes to make a recommendation, that will help us,” he said.

Deputy director-general in the national department of health Dr Nicholas Crisp outlined the department’s response to food insecurity, telling the commission South Africa faced a triple burden of malnutrition, which is undernutrition, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies — fuelled by poverty, inequality, rising food prices and unhealthy food environments.

Crisp said the department had introduced measures including food fortification, sodium reduction regulations, the sugar levy and proposed front of pack warning labels to help consumers make healthier choices.

Commissioners also raised concerns about the lack of nutritional support for children between the ages of two and five.

Motsoaledi agreed the gap needed urgent attention, warning that children who suffer severe malnutrition before starting school often never recover fully.

“If damage has already been done before a child starts school, there is no way you are going to reverse it,” he said.

He argued that investing in nutrition during the first five years of life would improve educational outcomes, strengthen the economy and reduce future healthcare costs, adding that tackling malnutrition required a co-ordinated effort across government rather than the health department alone.

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