Government was sending mixed messages by asking the sector to expand, while knocking dairy’s nutritional benefits through Smart Swaps, said MPs and industry representatives at an All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on cheese held in London last month.
Information from the campaign, which was launched in January, told consumers to swap full-fat cheese for reduced-fat and full-fat milk for semi-skimmed.
Mixed signals
“The mixed signals coming from government lead to confusion and create uncertainty as to how the dairy sector should be developing new markets and promoting growth,” said Dairy UK chief executive Dr Judith Bryans.
Smart Swaps may have sent the wrong message about dairy initially, argued farming minister George Eustice, “but it was right in the end”. There had been discussions about how much focus should be given to dairy within the scheme “and the final decision was made to add information about swapping things such as fizzy drinks as well as dairy”, he said.
The campaign has also been criticised by the dairy industry for not targeting the likes of biscuits and pies and for focusing too much on dairy. “The current campaign is a little inconsistent and dairy seems to get the brunt of it,” said Adams Foods’s marketing director Alastair Jackson.
It didn’t show the benefits of eating dairy, but focused on the negatives of eating too much fat from dairy products, he added.
Confusing
Campaign advice to consumers on eating cheese and butter was also confusing, Provision Trade Federation director general Clare Cheney said in her February column for our sister title Food Manufacture magazine.
She said: “Putting myself in the position of a consumer, I would be utterly confused as to how to follow the advice for the butter and cheese swaps,” because the information on swapping was unclear. Instead of advising consumers to eat a healthy balanced diet, it was likely the government’s advice would frighten and confuse them into avoiding dairy altogether, she added.
Bryans said: “The sector is urging politicians to voice their support for dairy and help educate consumers about the unique contribution that cheese and other dairy products make to health and the economy.”