UK dietary habits 'do not change as people age'

Changes in the eating habits of Brits has led to a tendency for people to gain weight over the last decade, food hygiene professionals have been warned.

Dr Colin Waine, former chairman of the National Obesity Forum and visiting professor at the University of Sunderland, said as people get older, often activity levels drop considerably while diets tend not to change too much, meaning people are left with a surplus of energy that is transformed into fat.

He commented: "There is a myth that healthy food is always more expensive. That is far from the truth. You can get healthy food if you use local sources of food and prepare the food yourself."

Dr Waine added that there are now more energy-dense foods available, which in turn are leading to higher levels of obesity.

Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is presently monitoring food hygiene levels for imported products from Japan to ensure maximum levels of radioactive elements are not exceeded.

The FSA is working to guidelines set out in the pre-export controls that have been implemented by the Japanese authorities, with these levels being monitored and amended as and when it is appropriate to do so.