Motion S5M-07643: Size Matters

18 Sep 2017

That the Parliament notes the report that has been published by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and Slimming World, Size Matters, which looks at the marketing tactics used by various businesses to get customers to buy larger portions of food and drink than they had originally intended; understands that such processes, which are known as verbal up-selling, can lead to one-in-three buying a larger coffee than planned, upgrading to a large meal in a fast-food outlet and buying chocolate at the till in petrol stations; notes the report’s findings suggesting that this can lead to the average person consuming an extra 17,000 calories each year and that it is a major driver in the rise of obesity; welcomes the RSPH and Slimming World’s call for businesses to pledge to only upsell healthy items, and believes that taking on the issues highlighted in this report are a great step towards tackling the problem of obesity.