Green Assembly Member Baroness Jenny Jones speaks out against Mayor Boris Johnson’s track record of letting companies promoting products with high amounts of fat and sugar sponsor events involving children.
Mayor Boris Johnson has a history of involving companies such as McDonalds with events for children. Photograph courtesy of Cassetteboy.
Jenny Jones AM criticised Boris Johnson for allowing Coca-Cola Great Britain to sponsor the FreeSport programme for the next two years. This follows his decision to allow McDonalds to sponsor the Schools clean-up program.
Jenny recently asked Boris Johnson in a written question “In the middle of an obesity crisis, how can you justify allowing McDonald’s, an organisation associated with highly processed, high fat, high sugar and unhealthy foods, to host their 40th year anniversary at City Hall?
Jenny Jones said: “The Mayor has a track record of linking up events involving children with companies promoting products with lots of fat and lots of sugar. As Mayor, Boris Johnson is meant to be promoting healthy lifestyles, but instead he is potentially adding to the queues at doctor and dentist surgeries. Free Sport is great, but you need to keep it sugar free.”
I can see why Co-ca Cola and McDonalds want to get direct access children at these events in order to sell more and make bigger profits, but I don’t understand why Boris Johnson is helping them do it. We are in the middle of an obesity crisis and he has a responsibility for public health in London.