Why is fitness coach Joe Wicks selling a protein bar that could be hazardous to your health?

The food I ate affected my health and well-being. As a fitness coach, I’ve learnt to eat more healthily. But I struggle to stop at one biscuit or one chunk of chocolate. That’s not a weakness; these foods are addictive and they’re everywhere, whether at the petrol station, soft-play or leisure centre, even hospitals – we’re bombarded. It can feel like ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are hunting us down.

Food marketing has become so pernicious that it’s difficult to make good choices. By way of example, protein-enhanced foods, from snack bars to yogurts to bottled water, are all over supermarket shelves and social media. The word “protein” gives a product, even one packed with potentially harmful additives, a health halo.

What I now know, about how UPFs affect our health, has blown my mind. A quarter of children in the UK are overweight or obese. A diet high in ultra-processed foods is linked to type 2 diabetes, depression, dementia, cancer, stroke –even premature death. What’s more, the UK consumes more UPFs than anywhere, after the US. It’s a ticking time bomb.

That’s why, as you’ll see in my Channel 4 documentary, Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill, I decided to do something. With the help of UPF expert Dr Chris van Tulleken and industry insiders, I have developed an ultra-processed protein bar to show the harms of a UPF-heavy diet and how the industry misleads consumers.

My Killer bar is high in saturated fat and sugar, and made up of 96 ingredients, some of which are linked to cancer, stroke, even early death. Sweetener sucralose may damage the gut lining; glycerol has been linked to a spate of hospitalisations in young children; maltitol may cause diarrhoea when consumed in large doses; and aspartame has been labelled a Group 2B or “possibly carcinogenic” agent by the World Health Organization, meaning it might cause cancer.

These are legal ingredients, commonly used in protein bars and supermarket staples – I just ramped up the quantities while staying within legal limits. Of course, one bar alone won’t kill you, but I was shocked when a food safety lawyer said we could sell it. That’s how flawed the legislation is. It’s crazy that, because one of my bars includes vitamins and flax seeds, I could market it as a health product if I wanted to.

I’m not doing this because I want people to eat Killer bars – I strongly recommend you don’t. I will only sell one per customer, with all revenue going to charity. I’m doing this because I want to put pressure on the Government to change the laws around UPFs. I’ll sell the bars until they wake up.

I’m campaigning for the Government to include mandatory warnings on the packaging of the worst foods. In 2016, Chile slapped tobacco-style warnings on most UPFs, which contributed to a significant reduction in the consumption of harmful food. Proper labelling would be a step in the right direction; it could help us make better choices.

We can’t continue as we are. Change might take years, and I’m in it for the long haul. In the meantime, I hope my documentary prompts viewers to question: Why isn’t the Government doing more to protect us?

This film has taken me out of my comfort zone, but you’ve got to be willing to stand up and say, “This isn’t right. Why aren’t we warned about the potential health risks? Why is it so hard to eat better?” If we don’t address this, we will all get sicker. I’m proud that I got people moving but I’d like my legacy to be that I helped the nation to eat healthier as well.

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Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill airs at 8pm on Monday 6th October.

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