Fryers angry: “Snack bar ban is based on canal-belt politics”
Dispute between the trade association for frying businesses (ProFri) and the government: the director of the former calls the current situation surrounding a bill a “travesty”… What’s going on?
There is a bill that emerged from the National Prevention Agreement, which was signed by many parties four years ago. The aim of this agreement is to reduce excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity in order to make the Dutch healthier. Under the bill, municipalities would be given the legal option to prevent new snack bars and fast-food restaurants from opening in neighborhoods where obesity is a major problem.
An angry ProFri director, Frans van Rooij, explains what could be wrong with that.
2,000 calories for 2 euros
According to Van Rooij, keeping new snack bars and fast-food establishments out drives young people straight to the supermarket, and that is where the real problem occurs. He calls it canal-belt politics: “The share of snack bars in total food consumption is well below one percent. With this unsubstantiated canal-belt politics, the government is driving young people even further into the supermarkets. There, so to speak, you can buy 2,000 kilocalories for two euros. Well, you can’t do that at a snack bar. The hard-working entrepreneur with a few hundred thousand euros in turnover is being sacrificed for large supermarkets with five to ten million euros in turnover,” says Van Rooij.
Recommendations ignored
ProFri previously wrote a defense brief, the ProFri Manifesto, containing recommendations from the frying industry. According to Van Rooij, these were not taken seriously at all, which is why government reports now exist that, in his words, contain “no numerical substantiation whatsoever when it comes to the places where people buy their kilocalories. The bill is full of symbolism, but is not based on any knowledge of the food market,” he says—and considers it a travesty.
‘More causes of obesity’
Van Rooij does acknowledge that obesity is a problem, but says it has much more to do “with social issues, too little exercise and young people’s overall lifestyle than with the type of food they consume.” ProFri also states in the Manifesto (in which fries are, incidentally, called a vegetable) that the selection of frozen snacks such as croquettes, frikandellen and similar products is larger and much cheaper in supermarkets than at snack bars.
The Manifesto does not discuss supermarkets taking responsibility, but it does call for an end to singling out fast-food outlets and snack bars as the sole causes of health problems.
What do you think? Is it a good idea to keep new snack bars and fast-food chains out of certain neighborhoods, or will people simply buy twice as much unhealthy food at the supermarket for the same price..?
Also read:
- Fast-food packaging contains potentially deadly PFAS
- This is the unhealthiest snack you can order at a snack bar
- Snack bars say: order directly from us, not through Thuisbezorgd
