Supermarkets, food manufacturers and fast food chains are to be forced to publish details of how much healthy food they are selling – and hopefully how much unhealthy stuff too.
The new rules are part of the UK Government’s 10-year health plan and follow pressure from campaigners and a handful of large food companies to introduce the measures.
“Here comes the next big moment in food policy,” said Ali Morpeth, cofounder of the Planeatry Alliance. “It’s a big win for policy, health forward business[es], and public health.”
The UK has the third highest rate of obesity in Europe, costing the NHS £11.4 billion a year, which is three times the NHS budget for ambulance services.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said the new strategy is “radically different” from the previous government’s “nanny stated approach of dictating to people the prices, the marketing” and instead “working with supermarkets” to encourage healthier eating. The shadow cabinet suggested the plans amount to “hiding the crisps”.
There are clearly concerns about just how closely Big food is involved in the new “standard”, and it is not even clear yet what the standard amounts to exactly.
Reporting on healthy food sales appears to be the first step, though. Some companies are already disclosing their sales of healthy and unhealthy food (that which is high in fat, salt and sugar(HFSS)), and have a sales-based target in place to tip the balance of their sales in favour of healthy products.
The transparent companies include: Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, as well as the food manufacturers Nestlé, Nomad Foods (the owner of Birds Eye) and Premier Foods (owner of Mr Kipling, Ambrosia and other household brands).
Fast food is slow to fess up
The caterers supplying our schools and hospitals, like Compass, Aramark and Sodexo, are not yet reporting such facts and figures, according to the Food Foundation’s recent report. Neither are fast food chains like Domino’s, Burger King, McDonald’s or KFC. But the spotlight is firmly on them as a quarter of the calories we consume are from these ‘out of home’ businesses.
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said the new standard “puts the spotlight on the food industry and commits to holding it accountable for providing healthier options, rather than placing the burden on individuals who are already struggling to get by”. She added: “This is a fair and evidence-based prescription for better health.”
Reporting on sales of junk food and nutritious options should also help shoppers distinguish between the chains that are on their side when it comes to making healthier choices – and the ones that aren’t. The government claimed its new standard would make the average shopping basket of goods sold “slightly healthier”.
Indeed, targets will be set to increase the healthy sales within the average basket. How the supermarkets meet the targets will be left up to them, but you might expect store layouts to change, loyalty points to be adjusted in favour of healthier products, and promotions to shift away from junk food and sugary drinks.
Some commentators were encouraged by the fact that both the department responsible for food and farming (Defra) and the Department of Health were involved in the announcement, which came over the weekend. In order to raise food standards, support sustainable farming, and improve access to affordable, nutritious food, the government needs to work as one.
However, there were concerns about the “cryptic” nature of the statement in some places and what the standard will actually look like. What businesses will report against is also unclear. Some are hopeful that the reporting will extend to protein type and origin, sales of vegetables and fruit, and sales grouped by main ingredients or nutrients, such as fibre, saturated fat, sugar, and salt.
Extensive reporting was recommended by Henry Dimbleby in his national food strategy for the Conservative Government. Reacting to the Government’s announcement, the former CEO and co-founder of the restaurant chain Leon said the reporting should track the good and the bad and be measured by weight and not value. Food and drink should also be separated otherwise “you can game the system”, he noted – for example, by boosting your ‘health’ score by discounting bottled water.
Other experts said the net needed to be cast far and wide in order to really make a difference. Sarah Woolnough, from The King’s Fund think tank, noted the amount of less healthy food and drink bought from convenience stores and takeaways, which may well not be caught by the new reporting rules, targets, and standard. Many also highlighted how successive governments have produced obesity plans that have been watered down, showed little progress or failed miserably.
The government said it is working with food retailers to “make the healthy choice the easy choice” to help tackle the obesity epidemic and ease pressure on the NHS. Read more on this here.
A basket of healthy food costs more than double that of less healthy options, according to recent research by the Food Foundation, with 1,000 calories of healthy food such as fruit and veg costing £8.80, compared to £4.30 for the equivalent amount of less healthy food, such as ready meals and processed meats. The Foundation’s chief executive Anna Taylor said the government’s new announcement marked “real momentum. We’ve been on this one for four years – and it’s a game changer,” she added.
Public health experts believe cutting the calorie count of a daily diet by just 50 calories would lift 340,000 children and 2 million adults out of obesity. If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by just 216 calories a day – equivalent to a single bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved.
Conclusion
The NHS has been left trying to mop up the fallout from over-production, over-promotion, and over-consumption of unhealthy foods. The onus, from what the government seems to be saying, should firmly be on the food industry to finally step up.
Will it be the kickstart that supermarkets and fast food chains need? We won’t know that until there is more flesh on the bones of what is currently just a press release (more news on the 10-year plan was expected as Wicked Leeks went to press this week).
The statement on the new standard included more than a little gushing from both sides with ministers referring to “brilliant” supermarkets, while retailer representatives welcomed their involvement in the new rules. The hospitality sector, which includes pub chains, seems to be far less keen on the idea.
The big influence of Big food will make many uneasy. As ever, the devil will be in the detail here. Such announcements must always be taken with a pinch of salt but there is no doubting that this has given healthy food policy a much-needed shot in the arm. Now we need to wait to see if the effects wear off, or are simply worn down by Big food and their appetite for profit over people’s health.
This all sounds positive and a step in the right direction.
My fear though is that much of the obesity crisis stems from lack of time to shop for and prepare good food, even to think about good food. For even the most health conscious of parents, preparing a healthy family meal when you’ve all walked in the door at 6pm is a big ask. The healthy meal has to compete with homework, sports clubs, and other household chores. Then at the exercise end of the issue, walking or cycling with children to school is better for everyone and the planet, but not possible when parents have to race off to work afterwards, or you’re collecting children from after school clubs at 5.45 on a wet December evening.
My hunch is that to reduce childhood obesity we need to win back some time for parents, and I suspect this is only possible by trying to adjust the housing market downwards so that houses cost less to buy and rent. Only then might parents have a degree of choice over how many hours they work, freeing up time to make better meals and shop more locally and healthily.