AN AMUSING scene was played out this month at a parliamentary inquiry into the UK’s growing obesity epidemic. One of the witnesses, a food advertising executive, made a statement so jaw-dropping that an MP had to ask him to clarify his words. Yes, said the executive: his client, a fast food chain, sponsored local football games not to promote its restaurants but out of the goodness of its heart. Its motives were “purely altruistic”.
The inquiry is being conducted by the committee of MPs whose job is to scrutinise government policy on health. One of their options is to recommend…
