Awarded
to: Gary
Lineker
The
Children's Food Awards
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Gary
Lineker is featured heavily on the Walkers website
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It's no coincidence
that lots of sports stars and pop stars are hired to help advertise food
products - especially those aimed at children. After all, children love
to copy the stars they admire, and if they think that their favourite
pop star or sporting hero likes a particular food or drink brand, they're
more likely to ask mum and dad to buy it.
For the Greedy
Star award, parents criticised pop stars and sports stars who
have sold out by using their star status to promote fatty, sugary or salty
foods to children. The pop band S Club 7
was criticised by parents for promoting Sunny Delight, and Britney
Spears received votes for promoting Pepsi.
But the overall winner
was Gary Lineker, for his high-profile
TV advertising of fatty, salty Walkers Crisps. In this round of Children's
Food Awards, Gary Lineker got more votes than anyone or anything else!
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Walkers
and Lineker
Ex-footballer and
TV presenter Gary Lineker is credited
for boosting sales of Walkers crisps by millions of packets after appearing
in Walkers TV ads. Total sales of Walkers Crisps were estimated at £430m
in 2001. A spokesman for Walkers said that in two years the ad campaign
'has helped to sell enough crisps to cover the whole of Holland'. The
former footballer has a £1.5 million deal with Walkers preventing
him from endorsing any other product until 2006. At one time, he even
let the company name a flavour of crisp after him - 'Salt & Lineker'.
Gary Lineker has close
links with his old club, Leicester City where he played between 1976 and
1986. To reinforce the relationship between Gary Lineker and crisps, Walkers
also sponsors Leicester City, with the club's grounds even being re-named
as the Walkers Stadium.
Walkers has also set
up a Walkers Football Fund which provides football kit to schools and
clubs to encourage children to get involved in football. The scheme also
encourages children to wear Walkers branded shirts.
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What
Gary thinks
Gary
Lineker's management company responded to his winning the Greedy Star
Award by saying that "crisps are a useful source
of energy and form part of a balanced diet alongside food such as vegetables
and fruit."
Since winning his award, Gary has spoken to the press and it turns out
that he blames parents
for allowing their children to become overweight, and says that crisps
have no effect on children's weight. "The main
point people are missing is that today's problems are nothing to do with
snacks like crisps," he said, before adding "The
issue is that many people are simply not exercising."
Maybe
Gary isn't aware that one in five children is now overweight, with 90%
eating too much saturated fat and 55% eating too much salt. Maybe he doesn't
know that almost all independent experts agree that obesity is likely
to be due to a poor diet combined with a lack of exercise. Despite all
the evidence that diet has a crucial role to play in health, Gary insists
we should simply focus on exercise, and leave his precious crisps alone.
Meanwhile
Walkers sold crisps worth £245m in the year to June 2003, and whilst
children's waistlines grow larger, Gary's wallet gets fatter by £300,000
every year.
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| Occasional
consumption of snacks like these Walkers Footballs
as part of a balanced diet is fine, but many children's diets
are already dangerously un-balanced,
with too much fat, sugar and salt. |
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Expert
opinion
Nutrition
Walkers are quick to point out that potatoes 'contain vitamins essential
to health such as vitamin C' and claim that dietary fibre, vitamins and
minerals are all concentrated by the frying process. Unsurprisingly, Walkers
aren't so keen to boast that a regular 34.5 gram packet of 'Gary's favourite'
Walkers Salt & Vinegar Crisps contains one gram of salt. Whilst this
might not sound like a lot, it's half of the maximum recommended total
daily intake for a six-year-old in just one snack.
So
what's wrong with a pinch of salt?
We all need a little salt, but most of us are consuming far too
much. Government studies show that in the UK more than three-quarters
of children have intakes of salt above the recommended levels set
for adults. New guidelines set by the Food Standards agency recommended
that children should eat much less salt than they are at the moment:
- No more than 1
gram per day up to the age of 12 months
- No more than 2
grams per day between 1-3 years
- No more than 3
grams per day between 4-6 years
- No more than 5
grams per day between 7-10 years
- No more than 6
grams per day for 11-14 year olds and adults.
The government's Scientific
Advisory Committee on Nutrition has declared that high salt intake, being
overweight and physical inactivity all contribute to raised blood pressure.
This in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Children
rarely develop such diseases, but childhood consumption of high-salt,
high-fat processed foods such as crisps can contribute to ill-health in
later life.
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| Walkers
Crisps are one third fat, almost half of which is saturated. |
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Crisps
aren't that fatty, are they?
In its nutrition advice, Walkers doesn't discuss the fat content of its
crisps. Yet one third of each packet of crisps is pure fat. And roughly
half of that fat is artery-clogging saturated fat. The occasional consumption
of crisps
as part of a balanced diet is fine, but many children's diets are already
dangerously un-balanced, with many children now eating too much
fat, too much sugar, and too much salt.
And
what do you think Gary Lineker's favourite food is? Not Walkers Crisps
of course, but healthy and delicious… paella.
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Walkers
crisps - What's in 'em?
Walkers
crisps are fine for an occasional snack, but like most crisps they provide
very little nutrition in relation to their high-fat and high-salt content.
Walkers
Salt & Vinegar Crisps
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil, salt and vinegar flavour
[flavouring, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium
5'-ribonucleotide)], salt.
Nutritional information
Per 100g: 525 calories; 33g fat (of which
15g is saturated fat); 1.2g sodium (equivalent to 3g of salt).
Per 34.5g pack: 181 calories; 11.4g fat
(of which 5.2g is saturated fat); 0.4g sodium (equivalent to
1g of salt). |
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Walkers
Cheese & Onion Crisps
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil, cheese and onion flavour
[onion powder, lactose, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate,
sodium guanylate), cheese powder made with animal rennet, wheat
maltodextrin, flavouring, colour (annatto)], salt.
Nutritional information
Per 100g: 525 calories; 33g fat (of which
15g is saturated fat); 0.7g sodium (equivalent to 1.75g of salt).
Per 34.5g pack: 181 calories; 11.4g fat
(of which 5.2g is saturated fat); 0.2g sodium (equivalent to
0.5g of salt). |
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Walkers
Ready Salted Crisps
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil, salt.
Nutritional information
Per 100g: 530 calories; 34g fat (of which
16g is saturated fat); 0.7g sodium (equivalent to 1.75g of salt).
Per 34.5g pack: 183 calories; 11.7g fat
(of which 5.5g is saturated fat); 0.2g sodium (equivalent to
0.5g of salt). |
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Walkers
Football Snacks - Bacon flavour
Ingredients: Maize, vegetable oil, bacon flavour, lactose, wheat
flour, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, sodium ribonucleotide),
rusk, flavourings, colour (paprika extract)], salt, colour (tartrazine,
allura red, brilliant blue).
Nutritional information
Per 100g: 530 calories; 30g fat (of which
14g is saturated fat); 1.1g sodium (equivalent to 2.75g of salt).
Per 23g pack: 122 calories; 6.9g fat (of
which 3.2g is saturated fat); 0.3g sodium (equivalent to 0.75g
of salt). |
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Walkers
Football Snacks - Cheese flavour
Ingredients: Maize, vegetable oil, cheese flavour [lactose,
flavouring, processed cheese powder made with animal rennet,
flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate, sodium inosinate, disodium
guanylate), milk proteins, colour(paprika extract)], salt, colour
(tartrazine, allura red, brilliant blue).
Nutritional information
Per 100g: 530 calories; 31g fat (of which
14g is saturated fat); 1.2g sodium (equivalent to 3g of salt).
Per 23g pack: 122 calories; 7.1g fat (of
which 3.2g is saturated fat); 0.3g sodium (equivalent to 0.75g
of salt). |
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The
Children's Food Awards 2002
The
Children's Food Awards 2003
Join
The Parents Jury
Home
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What
Gary thinks
Gary
Lineker kept quiet when the Parents Jury announced that he had won
the Greedy Star Award, but he has since talked to the press.
It
turns out that Gary blames parents for allowing their children to
become overweight, and says that crisps have no effect on children's
weight. "The main point people are missing
is that today's problems are nothing to do with snacks like crisps,"
he said, before adding "The issue is
that many people are simply not exercising."
Maybe
Gary isn't aware that one in five children is now overweight, with
90% eating too much saturated fat and 55% eating too much salt.
A lack of exercise is certainly a problem for some children, but
almost all experts agree that children are eating too many fatty,
salty snack foods like Walkers Crisps.
Meanwhile
Walkers sold crisps worth £245m in the year to June 2003,
and Gary's wallet gets fatter by £300,000 every year.
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Footballers
are in an ideal position to educate children about the dangers
of eating unhealthy food. It's a shame he is pushing high-fat,
high-salt snacks, especially as he is a parent himself.
mother of one, from Hastings in East Sussex
Gary
Lineker promotes crisps which are full of fat and salt. I bet
he doesn't eat them!
mother of three, from Welling in Kent
People
still don't realise how unhealthy salt is.
mother of two, from London
Do
these stars really need even more money? Can they not be a more
positive role model, especially as they are connected with sport?
mother of two, from London
Great
ads - crap foods.
mother of one, from Twickenham in Middlesex
I
think the ads are great fun. It's a shame they are not being
used for something else.
mother of two, from west London
He
promotes Walkers crisps - they are unhealthy and offer very
little nutrition but plenty of fat and salt.
mother of one, from Telford in Shropshire
As
a parent he should be more responsible as to the products he
endorses.
mother of one, from Bristol.
He
is the main face of Walkers snack products, endorsing high-fat,
high-salt products.
mother of two, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire
Gary
Lineker advertises Walkers crisps - high salt, high fat, low
nutrition.
mother of one, from Brighton in East Sussex
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