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Nutrition and Obesity: EURO COOP success stories
In order to tackle the obesity epidemic, the Diet, Physical Activity and Health Platform led by the European Commission encourages its members to focus their effort on 5 main areas (listed below). EURO COOP members are active in all of them. Concrete examples of initiatives carried out by EURO COOP member organisations include:
Consumer information, including labelling. EURO COOP member organisations provide consumer information using a wide range of media including magazines, brochures, websites, in-store information points, etc. For instance, Hispacoop, the EURO COOP Spanish member organisation, regularly publishes 'Idea Sana', a magazine which contains articles about healthy foods, ingredients and recipes. Likewise, SOK, the EURO COOP Finnish member, publishes a member magazine which provides healthy advice for everyday cooking and eating and reaches over 1,5 million Finnish consumers. On the labelling side, the EURO COOP UK member organisation, the Co-operative Group, has been the first retailer to spell-out the approximate salt content on both front and back of its packaging and the only brand to include calories on alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, the UK Co-op uses descriptors like HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW for all nutrients, in order to provide consumers with an objective interpretation of the numerical data. In Finland, SOK labels salt in all its products thereby going beyond what is required by national law.
Education. EURO COOP member organisations are keen actors in this area of consumer outreach. For instance, Coop Italia, the EURO COOP Italian member organisation, has been running an educational programme in schools for 25 years. So far this programme has reached over 1,5 million children and used 300 different educational tools (books, software, tapes, etc.). Likewise, FDB, the EURO COOP Danish member organisation, thanks to its School Contact Service, has been issuing teaching materials on diet, health and consumer safety for the past 20 years and over this time, it has become one of the best and most trustful source of information.
Promotion of physical activity. This is an area where several EURO COOP member organisations have recently begun to focus. The EURO COOP Swedish member organisation, KF, has launched an initiative called 'A training program for life', which aims at promoting physical exercise amongst employees through professional training and economic incentives (e.g. discounts and special offers for gyms, etc.). In Finland, SOK attaches high importance to the well-being of its employees for many years now, e.g., it offers gym facilities and physical activity courses for its staff.
Marketing/Advertising. The UK Co-op has adopted a pioneering responsible policy concerning the marketing and advertising of products high in salt, fat and sugar to children. On the marketing side, for instance, free samples of such products are no longer distributed in stores for promotion and demonstration purposes. Additionally, pictures of popular children's characters have been removed from the packaging of Co-op product lines. On the advertising side, the UK Co-op is committed to not advertising its own products with high salt or sugar content in children's titles or during children television viewing hours. In Finland, SOK observes a 'blanket ban' on advertising to children.
Product Composition. Since 1995 the UK Co-op has been reducing salt and fat in its own brand products, and is committed to continue to do so in coming years.
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