The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

The Sunday Times November 28, 2021 7

NEWS

Health warning as

candy superstores

gobble up high street

Graham MacGregor, head of Action on

Sugar and a cardiologist at Queen Mary

University of London, said: “It’s shocking

that a new breed of ‘ultra-sweet’ shops

are taking advantage of the pandemic to

push their products to those living in

more deprived areas as ‘joy-giving’

treats. Sweets lead to excessive calorie

intake, as well as causing huge damage to

teeth. Supermarkets and manufacturers

are supposed to be reducing sugar in

sweet foods and are now subject to legal

restrictions on how they can promote

unhealthy foods. Imported US products

are not subject to the same restrictions.”

Oxford Street now has at least seven

large “candy stores”, some artificially

Outlets such as the

American Candy Shop,

above, and American

Candy Land, below, cater

to a sweet tooth in Oxford

Street, London

The campaign group Action on Sugar

describes the trend as “shocking” and

warns it could fuel childhood obesity and

tooth decay. One in four children in year

6, who are aged 10-11, are now obese com-

pared with 21 per cent before the pan-

demic, NHS figures show. Almost one in

seven (14 per cent) of pupils were obese

when starting school this year, according

to the National Child Measurement Pro-

gramme in England.

The candy superstores are a world

away from traditional sweet shops with

floor-to-ceiling displays of oversized lolli-

pops, rainbow-coloured boxes of Ameri-

can cereal and US chocolate brands such

as Hershey and Reese’s. Sweet shops

have been able to rent larger and more

prominent retail space because the col-

lapse of high-street chains has forced

landlords to reduce rents to fill the gaps,

giving new opportunities to businesses

with lower turnovers.

There are 73 more sweet shops in the

UK this year compared with 2020,

according to the Local Data Company,

but 1,236 fewer clothing shops. Many

towns where sweet shops have opened

are in areas with high levels of obesity or

deprivation. The number of sweet shops

in northeast England has grown from 40

to 68 in the past five years. Glasgow has

five more than a year ago while Manches-

ter and Birmingham have four more.

Louise Eccles

Consumer Affairs Editor

Giant outlets selling imported American treats

loaded with sugar are replacing clothes shops

scented to create an enticing aroma.

American Candy Land, near Selfridges,

sells every flavour imaginable of Pop

Tarts, M&Ms, Skittles and retro sweets

such as Nerds and Sour Patch Kids. Its

rainbow sherbet cotton candy contains

60g of sugar, two-and-a-half times the

maximum recommended daily amount

for children.

The government’s voluntary sugar

reduction programme called on the UK

food and drinks industry to reduce sugar

in products that contribute to children’s

sugar intake by at least 20 per cent by

2020. Instead, it fell by only 3 per cent
      from 2015-19.
      @Louise_Eccles

American-style “candy” superstores

opening across the UK are selling “single

servings” of sweets that contain two and

a half times the maximum amount of

sugar a child should consume daily.

The giant sweet shops selling

imported fizzy drinks, cereals, chocolate

bars and sweets are increasingly occupy-

ing premium retail space, filling gaps left

by fashion chains and electrical retailers.

These stores are said to be benefiting

from the “lipstick effect”, whereby con-

sumers spend money on small indulgen-

ces during difficult economic times.

Two-year hell of

lecturer in ‘racy

décolletage’ row

ALAMY

had been “inappropriate” in

the lesson, that he had used

language including “‘racy

décolletage’ to describe a

bustline”, that the class was

“sexualised” and that he had

used stories from his

experiences in the “Far East”.

He denies using the last

phrase.

His next lesson with the

students was cancelled, and

Huffam was suspended on

November 1 that year.

The university, where the

artist Grayson Perry has been

chancellor since 2015, has

now admitted he was wrongly

disciplined. After conducting

an investigation, it wrote to

Huffam, apologised for his

suspension, admitted it had

been “mishandled” and

acknowledged “the distress

that this has caused you”.

Huffam described the past

two years as a “Kafkaesque

nightmare”, and said it had

“derailed my 30-year career”.

He is seeking a compensation

payout from the university.

He said: “I am speaking out

because mine is not an

isolated case. Middle-aged

white men appear to be

targets and students are

allowed free rein. If they are

opposed to you, they can

unseat you. The investigation

report into my case, which

was overturned on appeal,

referenced the #MeToo

movement. It was alleged I

had behaved inappropriately

by using ‘sexualised’ terms

that are widely used in

fashion circles. To this day

neither I nor my lawyers have

been told the identity of the

anonymous students who

complained. They were

postgraduates — how can

they have been offended by

the use of words like ‘hot

mama’ and ‘racy

décolletage’, which were

actually used in broadsheet

newspaper articles to

describe fashion looks? The

phrase in the materials was

actually ‘seductive décolleté’.

I suspect students used a

search engine to translate it

and came up with ‘racy

décolletage’, the term in the

complaint.”

The university said: “We

have robust measures in

place to protect UAL staff and

students, who are

encouraged to report

incidents of sexual violence,

racism, bullying and

harassment. We are

confident our complaints

and appeals procedures

are fair.”

Editorial, page 32

A lecturer at one of the

world’s most famous arts

universities has fought a two-

year legal battle since being

suspended because three

students complained he had

used phrases such as “racy

décolletage” and “hot mama”

to describe outfits. They said

the language made them

uncomfortable.

Peter Huffam, 55, was

teaching overseas students

on the graduate diploma in

fashion at Central St Martins,

part of the University of the

Arts London (UAL), where

the designers Stella

McCartney and the late

Alexander McQueen studied,

tasked with broadening their

fashion vocabulary.

He asked the students,

from countries including

China, Russia and South

Korea, to complete an

exercise that involved

matching descriptions from a

newspaper article about

street style during Milan

Fashion Week to photos of

the outfits described.

One description, applied to

a photo of a woman dressed

in a denim skirt and

multicoloured jacket, said:

“On paper, this showgoer’s

outfit all sounds a tad mumsy:

a gypsy-esque denim skirt,

blouse and multicoloured

jacket. Add a lick of purple

lippy and some embellished

heels and this look makes for

one hot mama.”

Another newspaper article

used in the lesson described a

dress by Isabel Toledo, the

late designer who created

Michelle Obama’s 2009

inauguration dress, as having

a “plunging neckline which is

mirrored on the back and

secured in place with silk

string ties for a seductive

décolleté”.

Five days after the lesson in

October 2019, which Huffam

says passed without incident,

three students complained to

the course leader, David

Kappo. They said that Huffam

Sian Griffiths

Education Editor

Huffam:

career

‘derailed’ by

anonymous

accusation

I suspect st

search eng

and came u

décolletage

complaint.

The univ

have robus

place to pr

students, w

encourage

incidents o

racism, bu

harassmen

confiden

and app

are fair

EdEEEEE

threestudents complained to

the course leader, David

Kappo. They said that Huffam

Huffam:

career

‘derailed’ by

anonymous

accusation

The two fashion pictures at the centre of the dispute