The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the government's proposed overhaul of the national breadbasket list is expected to negatively impact revenue intake for retailers, it is a move welcomed by grocers, Philip Beneby Sr, president of the Bahamas Retailers Association told The Tribune yesterday.

However, Mr Beneby urged the government to consult with retailers on the move to avoid a "fight with each other."

Last week, during a town hall meeting at the TG Glover Primary School, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said adjustments will likely be made to the price-controlled breadbasket list in the next fiscal year in a bid to strengthen the fight against non-communicable diseases.

Impact

The shift, he said at the time, would impact the cost of current items on the list like corned beef and canned soups and new items to be added like almond milk and oatmeal, however the changes await final approval from Cabinet.

"The government is trying to get the Bahamian population to eat healthier, so it is something that we would welcome," Mr Beneby, who has been in the grocery business for the last 30 years, said. "As a matter of fact, with the price control even at the inception of it we were not too happy with the markup that they gave, but that's what it is so its just something that the food store operators will have to work with."

He also said: "In terms of the new items, the markup on those items would be reduced and of course it would have some negative effect on the bottom line. Some of the items would be reduced, but then again some of them would go back to the regular markup, (these are) the ones that they take out of the breadbasket.

"They are trying to kind of, I don't know if I should say, find their way with all of these items and all of the various agencies involved and I am sure at some point the minister would sit with the retailers to go through the items and dialogue with us and have consultation with us so that we can all be on page and not have a fight with each other. That is what we are trying to avoid."

To give an example of how retailers' revenue would be affected, Mr Beneby said they would have no control over the market price of items like almond milk as the Bahamas is not a producer of this product, so businesses would have to deal with whatever the market price is.

The items likely to be removed from the breadbasket list are margarine, mayonnaise, corned beef, canned meats, canned soups, broths, condensed milk and sugar.

The items likely to be included are beans and peas, raw almonds, raw cashews, fresh oranges, fresh apples, root crops, oatmeal, as well as tuna, sardines and mackerel canned in water.

Julia Lee, a registered dietitian/nutritionist in the Doctors Hospital Health System, said overhauling the breadbasket makeup is a good move to lighten the burden of families, but it should go further.

"I think if the diet is going to help reduce the overall grocery bill that's good, but it would have a better impact than picking winners or losers in food," Ms Lee told The Tribune.

Vegetables

"For instance all fruits and vegetables, not just apples and oranges whether they are canned, frozen or fresh, all of those can be a part of a healthy diet, dried and canned beans, all canned fish. I think it would be helpful to expand it or liberalise or not get too specific as to what food would be considered helpful."

She added that food items in themselves are not what are causing the issue of obesity and non-communicable diseases.

"Somebody can eat an occasional chocolate chip cookie or something and not gain a bunch of weight or have corned beef from time to time. What's more important is the overall dietary pattern that somebody has. So does a person always drink sweet drinks whenever they have lunch? Do they have water or do they always grab soda when they eat or do they skip lunch and grab some cookies instead? So it's the overall dietary pattern.

"I wouldn't blame any one food item for the problem and likewise adding something good to your diet is not going to make a bad diet good.

"So what I see is people with issues with their diet is usually their habitual dietary routine and there is some disagreement on what is actually a healthy diet.

"Most health professionals would talk about a plant-based diet being what is a healthy diet.

"So more vegetables, fruits, grains and less on the animal foods that would be the diet that we would promote more than saying eat more salmon or don't ever eat canned soup for instance."

The Ministry of Health, following recommendations from experts, will also separately recommend to Cabinet that a consumption tax be imposed on the fast-food industry, although Dr Sands stressed in an interview with The Tribune that this is a very long way from becoming policy.

"It is a bit of of a push for the Ministry of Health to be dictating fiscal policy to the Ministry of Finance," he said last week. "It is a suggestion at this point."

Taxing the fast-food industry was recommended by experts who participated in a government-organised breadbasket forum last year.

Dr Sands previously told reporters his ministry will recommend to Cabinet that a "sin" tax be levied to pay for National Health Insurance (NHI).

The national breadbasket became law in 1971; it became illegal to sell the featured items above a maximum allowed price.

It is illegal for wholesalers to increase prices on the items more than 18 per cent and for retailers to markup prices more than 23 per cent, according to Dr Sands.

Breaking the law carries a fine of no more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than a year.

Some experts believe the initiative made staple foods affordable but placed too much focus on food energy supply rather than nutritional value.

The Minnis administration intends to remove VAT from breadbasket items in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, fulfilling a long-held promise of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.