Responding to a report about food and social exclusion published by the independent thinktank Demos last week, ISBA director-general Malcolm Earnshaw said the idea that advertising was responsible for the growth of 'food poverty' was inaccurate.
The report, Inconvenience Food: The Struggle to Eat Well on a Low Income, attacks large supermarket chains such as Sainsbury's targeting of cash-rich, time-poor consumers prepared to pay a premium for pre-prepared healthy food.
According to Demos, this has created an underclass of consumers who rely on cheaper food with high fat content. One of the report's proposals is for a 'fat tax' on processed food advertising, the proceeds of which would be used to fund a national health promotion agency.
"The idea is to balance the amount of information available to consumers, said a Demos spokesman.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said its range of economy products and initiatives such as its Way to Five scheme to encourage greater consumption of fruit and vegetables were evidence that it promoted healthy eating.
Earnshaw said the Demos report was an attempt "to enter the debate with headlines rather than with a genuine attempt to tackle the problems of unhealthy diets and unhealthy lifestyles".
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