Super-sized by cheap food

inlsa

061010 Almost 60 percent of SA women and 29 percent of men are overweight, according to research done by the Medical Research Council. .photo by Simphiwe Mbokazi 9

Mlungisi Mthembu

Cadet News Agency

The rise of “big food” is causing South Africans to become supersized – and making them unhealthy, a new study claims.

The study, led by Dr Ehimario Igumbor of the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health, found that people opted to buy cheaper, less nutritious food instead of the more expensive, healthier food at supermarkets.

Big-food companies are defined as “large commercial entities that increasingly dominate key components of the food and beverage environment”.

Out of more than 1 800 food manufacturing companies in SA, big-food manufacturers account for a “disproportionately large amount of sales”.

Igumbor said that while there had been regulation of tobacco and alcohol, the food industry was largely unregulated.

“Poor food choices have an impact on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and obesity,” he said.

The study, commissioned by the science journal Plos Medicine, found that healthier foods cost between 10 percent and 60 percent more in supermarkets than less healthy foods when compared on a weight basis.

Cash-strapped consumers were buying “cheaper” food, which was not as healthy.

“Refined cereals and foods with added sugar and fat are among the lowest-cost sources of energy in rural supermarkets, thus making nutrient-poor products, such as biscuits, margarine and oil-heavy snacks, an effective means to cheaply consume energy,” the study said.

It argued that big-food retailers have made their products more affordable by cutting out traditional wholesalers and dealing in larger volumes. The scientists called for urgent action to counter the negative effects of changes in SA’s food environment.

“This action should include a combination of accelerated efforts to educate the public about the adverse consequences of consuming easily available but unhealthy foods.”

One of the biggest changes over the past few decades was that consumers, who used to shop at mom-and-pop shops, were now shopping at supermarkets.

“The supermarkets have displaced traditional food retailers, such as small convenience stores, public markets and spazas, as the primary place where South Africans purchase their food in both urban and rural areas.

“In a pilot study in the Ciskei, it was found that 68.4 percent of households in villages used supermarkets.

“The big companies were able to out-compete local wholesalers and small retailers on cost and quality in most products on offer.”

The co-author of the study, Professor David Sanders said: “Whole foods such as meat, fish and dairy products are quite expensive to produce. Processed foods are industrial and the amount of whole food in them is much less, which makes them cheaper.”

According to the study, supermarket chains control over half the retail share of the food market in the country.

“Big-food manufacturers have increased their share of the market by making their food more available, affordable and acceptable.”

Meanwhile, Pick n Pay’s Peter Arnold, who read the study, said the supermarket chain would advise customers to buy fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, “which are extremely healthy options and to buy them loose rather than pre-packed”.

mlungisi.mthembu@inl.co.za