Food industry has infiltrated UK children’s education: stealth marketing exposed

Dear Editor,

Thank you for this important article. However there is a problem with the piece, which problem is very much in keeping with the story this piece tells. As the piece correctly notes, the lack of responsibility for school food and food education taken by government leaves this work to charities, which rely on funding, and much of that naturally comes from the food industry and associated foundations, whose philanthropy is often directed at food topics and brand cleansing in this space.

However, TastEd - the charity lionised at the end of the article - is as subject to these pressures and compromises as any other. TastEd is a project of the Sapere group network (https://www.sapere-association.com/), and Jason O'Rourke has been and possibly continues to be a member of the Sapere board. Sapere is sponsored by the Savencia foundation. Savencia specialise in cheese and salami products (https://www.savencia-fromagedairy.com/en/brand-portfolio/) but also have a range of chocolate, dessert and confectionery products (https://www.savencia.com/en/savencia-gourmet). That is not to say TastEd's mission is necessarily compromised by this ownership hierarchy, but it does place them in a similar position to the other charities noted in the piece.

It seems to me that conflicts of interest should have been spelled out before TastEd was elevated above these other charities and the pressures they face and often compromise with, when in fact they are in a similar position.

Best regards,
Dr. Nicholas Wilkinson