Former Food Exec: Industry Must Cut Fat

In a recent  interview published on WellWise.org, a nonprofit website offering authoritative, science-based information on nutrients, dietary supplements and health strategies, Hank Cardello, a former food industry executive and the author of the book “Stuffed,” emphasized the critical need for practical solutions in the battle against obesity.

Cardello’s current position is that not only is it possible for companies to make healthy profits while providing healthier foods to the consumer, but that it’s also essential to their future.

By providing and promoting alternatives to non-nutritive food products, Cardello noted, companies can leverage the public’s growing awareness of health problems associated with sugary and fatty foods, thereby ensuring their own future profits. He also called for the food industry and food advocates to find a middle ground by dealing with the problem together.

Cardello is now involved with what he noted was the first-ever Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study with the aim of demonstrating to companies how they can improve profits by selling better-for-you foods and beverages. “This is making the business case, based on hard numbers, for marketing lower-calorie, better-for-you foods,” he said of the report, whose results are expected within the next few months.

In the interview, Cardello noted that many national or local attempts to modify consumer behavior through the adoption sweeping policies have failed. A more successful approach, he suggested, would be to offer companies incentives to develop and market better foods.

Regular bloggers on WellWise include food scientists, investigative food reporters, doctors and therapists.