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European experts think that rather than asking people to choose healthier food, it is better that government increases tax on high salt and fat content foods and dangles subsidies on fruits and vegetables.

The group from the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation said that it is needed to cut salt and fat in processed food and also important to put a clear food labeling.

They further said that strict restrictions should be imposed for smoking and advertisements promoting smoking products and plain packaging should be banned along with a tight regulation over alcohol marketing.

Additionally, the government must encourage healthy forms of transport such as walking and cycling, reports the Telegraph.

By making these changes, the group said that 50 per cent of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases could be prevented and in Britain alone, around 100,000 deaths could be avoided per year.

"Population interventions make the environment healthier and change happens automatically whereas with an individual approach you need an active response," Professor Simon Capewell, from Liverpool University and co-author of the paper, was quoted as saying by Telegraph. 

 "Much of the nanny state is manipulated by industry which leads to the nanny state generating very cheap junk food through subsidies at Common Agricultural Policy level, and an environment with advertising and marketing seducing us to buy junk food and sweet drinks. In this case the nanny state is malignant rather than benign and we're looking to government to redress the balance," he added.

"Over the last decade there has been a 40 per cent reduction in cardiovascular disease - but we know more must be done. We are currently developing a cardiovascular disease strategy which will consider how we better identify and treat heart diseases for people of all ages, including older people," a spokesman for the Department of Health said according to Telegraph.

The findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.