Killian Barry
Country Director, Danone Ireland
The food industry plays an influential role in helping consumers form healthier eating habits. By providing nutritious options and labelling transparency, they can help shape a healthier society.
At Danone, our mission is to ‘bring health through food to as many people as possible’. We recognise our responsibility as a food and beverage company to help consumers adopt healthier eating habits, which is why, over the past two decades, we have made a conscious decision to prioritise healthy products across our portfolio.
Prioritising healthy, nutritious food and beverages
With obesity levels rising nationwide, healthy and nutritious food should become more accessible to consumers. In recent years, Danone has worked hard to innovate and develop products that can contribute to a healthy diet.
In 2023, Danone UK and Ireland launched health commitments across our dairy, plant-based and beverages portfolios, committing that at least 90% of our product portfolio by sales volume will not be high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and promising never to produce a HFSS product for children.
Consumers need access to clear, consistent nutritional guidance and information.
A healthy diet often goes hand-in-hand with an active lifestyle. That’s why we launched GetPRO, a range of high-protein puddings, yoghurts, mousses and drinks.
Transparent information to encourage healthy choices
Consumers need access to clear, consistent nutritional guidance and information. The food and beverage industry should make a determined effort to help people understand what constitutes a healthy diet. We must provide transparent information regarding the nutritional value of food and beverages on labels and company websites, allowing consumers to make informed decisions.
The Government also has a role to play in helping consumers assess the nutritional value of food and beverages on supermarket shelves. They should enhance measures around mandatory food labelling to ensure nutritional information is more visible and accessible.
Collective effort to drive meaningful change
To encourage consumers to adopt healthier choices, a collaborative approach is needed, with food manufacturers, business leaders and government entities working together to shape food information policies and improve healthy eating guidelines.
Positive steps have been taken to drive change, with the development of resources such as the HSE’s Healthy Eating Guidelines, which outlines specific actions and guidelines to inspire healthy eating, is a welcome addition. Such frameworks can serve as a blueprint for manufacturers, helping us work towards creating foods suited to healthy diets.
We are eager to build on our current health commitments and go beyond regulatory standards to promote healthier eating and drinking choices amongst consumers in Ireland. We must empower them to make healthier choices by making transparent nutrition information readily available.
GetPRO is the official protein partner of Dublin GAA.
