Domino’s calorific Creme Egg cookie is a ‘corporate irresponsibility’, says former health minister

Lord Bethell took to Twitter to complain about Domino’s Creme Egg cookie amid his concern about ‘the health of the nation’ – DOMINO’S

A former health minister has said the bosses behind a new Creme Egg cookie sold by Domino’s Pizza should be “ashamed of themselves”.

The fast food chain is adding the calorie-rich dish to its menu ahead of Easter, with each cookie containing a whole Cadbury Creme Egg.

Concerned about the “health of the nation”, Lord Bethell took aim at the Domino’s board of directors in a tirade on social media that called the new product a “corporate irresponsibility”.

“This is disgusting. A whole Cadbury cream egg in a Domino’s cookie,” he said.

“These are serious corporate food companies. What are they thinking?

“The executive team, the board and the shareholders should be ashamed of themselves.”

Lord Bethell said serious conversation needed to be had with food companies and fiscal intervention such as sugar tax should be used – PAUL GROVER FOR THE TELEGRAPH

One cookie comes in at around 370 calories, and they are served two to a box. The recommended daily calorie intake for a man is 2,500, or 2,000 for a woman. A medium cheese and tomato pizza from Domino’s contains more than 1,600 calories.

Lord Bethell, who was a junior health minister during the pandemic, then went on to post the names and head shots of the chairman and senior independent director, saying the new dish would affect their careers.

“I hope the board are ashamed of themselves,” he said. “It’ll weigh heavily on their future career prospects.

“It’s not illegal. But it’s harmful. It blows in the face of their noble-sounding corporate responsibility commitments. And disgusting.

“They should know better. And use their talents to find less egregious ways to make a return.”

Unable to manage feast or famine

The former minister reiterated his anger to The Telegraph, saying that food brands were partially responsible for the nation’s eating culture.

“The key thing that I want people to understand is that the health of the nation is in an increasing state of crisis,” he said.

“You have to look at the culture we have around food.

“Our bodies haven’t caught up with the 21st century, they’re still used to being able to manage the feast or famine processes. They don’t know how to stop eating, and instead just keep going and keep going.”

He added: “You have to look at the marketing around food, how food is taught at schools, how food is provided for school children, particularly those who don’t have the wealth to pay for meals themselves.

“You have to have a serious talk with the food companies and use fiscal interventions such as sugar taxes to try and nudge the companies themselves away from their own junk food addiction.”

Domino’s has since defended its new cookie, saying that the boxes of two are intended to be shared.

A Domino’s spokesperson said: “These special edition cookies bring together two much loved, iconic brands and are designed to be a delicious pre-Easter treat which can be shared.

“At just over 370 calories per cookie, they are in line with the content of many other treats available on the high street such as frappes and croissants.

“We know our customers love to share our existing cookies, and we expect they will do the same with the new Creme Egg cookies.”

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