Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Responsibility deal




The British Government is persuading companies to sign up to this new initiative, which is designed to reduce the amount of sugar and salt in different products.
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Many companies unfortunately have chosen to do so without telling their consumers that they have done so
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Heinz has done just that in order to conform to the demand by government health chiefs that food should have less salt. 
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The company has signed up to the Health Department’s so-called Responsibility Deal, a programme of targets for reducing the level of fats and salts used by food manufacturers. 
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So, whereas the previous HP recipe contained 2.1g of salt per 100g, it now has 1.3g – a 38 per cent cut that for aficionados is enough to make all the difference to the taste. 
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They say it is now too sour. 
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Marco Pierre White, the Michelin-starred chef, who was eating sausage and mash in a pub recently, sent the meal back because he thought it was off. “It was the HP,” he said. “
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It was definitely dodgy. 
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I had no idea they had changed the recipe.
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The HP case is different from the Twinings one in that the latter’s wounds were self-inflicted, whereas Heinz feels itself under pressure from the Government to make its foods healthier.
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This Responsibility Deal began in the spring and its impact is about to be felt. 
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Indeed, all of us who have a favourite food or drink might find our taste buds sorely tested over the next few years as manufacturers change products to meet their pledges under the initiative.
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Many of our best-known companies and supermarkets have signed up, promising to reduce calorie and salt content. 
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While they include producers of such obvious calorie-busting fare as burgers and pizzas, who eats so much brown sauce that it's salt content is going to make any difference? 
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Given that it is usually being splattered onto a full English breakfast or squeezed onto a bacon sandwich, the sauce is probably the healthiest part of the meal. 
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What are we going to have next?
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Mars Bars without sugar? 
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Scotch without alcohol? 
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The most famous advocate of HP sauce was said to be Harold Wilson, the Labour prime minister, though in fact he always professed a preference for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. 
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I have no idea what it's salt levels are, but will it now have to change at the behest of the health police?
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The argument comes down to honesty and transparency. 
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Heinz had already launched a reduced salt and sugar version of HP Sauce, yet it went ahead and changed the recipe of the classic version too, without making clear to customers that it had done so. 
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Why not preserve the original and allow people to make the choice for themselves? 
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And if you do change the recipe, should you really market the product as “original and genuine”?
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If Heinz thought it could get away with changing an old stalwart such as HP Sauce without anyone noticing, then it was mistaken. 
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It reckoned without the highly developed palates of people who were virtually weaned on the original and whose ability to spot an imposter is as finely tuned as the most accomplished wine taster — or Earl Grey tea drinker
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Be aware your favourite foods might not taste the same in the future.

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