Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system
The Food, Diet and Obesity Committee was appointed to consider the role of foods, such as ‘ultra-processed foods’, and foods high in fat, salt and sugar, in a healthy diet and tackling obesity. Following a call for oral and written evidence, the Committee has published the final report of its inquiry, which includes several recommendations for the government.
Government strategy
- A new, comprehensive and integrated food strategy, including the FSA having oversight of the food system including monitoring and reporting annually against targets for sales of healthier and less healthy foods, the overall healthiness of diets and progress against the food strategy.
- Government response to any future SACN recommendations within 2 months of publication.
The role of industry
- Move from voluntary measures to mandatory regulation of the food industry
- Exclusion of food businesses (and the associations that represent them) that derive more than a proportion of sales from less healthy products from any discussions on the formation of policy on food, diet and obesity prevention.
Ultra-processed foods
- Commissioning further research independent of industry into the links between UPFs and poor diet and health.
- Further regulation of HFSS products, and making healthier, largely unprocessed and minimally processed foods more accessible and affordable.
- Government response to SACN’s findings on processed foods and health
- Review the Eatwell Guide to ensure it reflects updated evidence and advice, including the most cost-effective ways of making it useful and accessible to consumers
- Implement the 2018 Nutrient Profiling Model without further delay
Reformulation, taxes and subsidies
- Legislation of salt, sugar and calorie reduction targets
- Uprate to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) to keep pace with consumer price inflation
- Commission a review of the evidence on the most cost-effective interventions to drive businesses to produce and market healthier, often unprocessed or minimally processed fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and wholegrains
Advertising of unhealthy food
- Legislate to ban advertising of HFSS food and drink across all physical and digital media (total ban)
Healthier high streets
- Swiftly introduce measures to give local authorities more planning and licensing powers to protect public health and reduce the proliferation of businesses that rely on sales of less healthy food.
- Bring forward the planned review of restrictions on retail location promotions,
- Implement the ban on HFSS volume price promotions no later than 1 October 2025 and restrict other forms of HFSS price promotion in retail settings, including ‘meal deals’.
- Ban location and price promotions of HFSS food and drink by out-of-home businesses with more than 50 employees, and for smaller out-of-home businesses and franchise premises if practicable.
- Ban location and price promotions of HFSS food and drink across online delivery platforms and aggregators, including digital messages and promotional notifications.
- Act swiftly to ban the use of brand and licensed characters, cartoons and nutrition and health claims on the packaging of HFSS food and drink.
- Legislate as soon as possible to implement its promised ban on the sale of energy drinks to children.
Food labelling
- Introduce mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling in a form determined by independent research with UK consumers, as well as mandatory nutrition labelling for out-of-home businesses in a comparable form.
Infants, children and young people
- Review food standards for early years settings and make them mandatory
- Review and update the school food standards and introduce a system for monitoring compliance
- Publish quarterly estimates of the costs of a weekly healthy food basket
- Review costs and benefits of extending free/subsidised school meal provision
The British Nutrition Foundation has responded to the report.
The government has until 31 January 2025 to respond to the Committee’s report.
