Industry told to cut sugar by 20%

At the start of the week, the House of Commons Health Select Committee published a follow up to the Government’s childhood obesity plan, in which they welcomed the measures included but were extremely disappointed that several key areas had not been included.

Tiered levy on sugary drinks – strongly recommend measures are implemented to ensure manufacturers pass on the price differential between high & low/no sugar to help maximise the ‘nudge’ and prevent consumers of sugar-free products subsidising the higher sugar drinks. Also urge Government to extend the levy to milk-based drinks with added sugar.

Voluntary reformulation programme (sugar) – urge Government to set out proposals if the voluntary reformulation does not go as far or as fast as necessary. Likewise Public Health England (PHE) should set out plans for reducing portion size & Government draw up measures to implement a cap on portion sizes linked to calorie content of certain foods & drinks for implementation if voluntary action does not achieve this.

Discounts & promotions – urge Government to follow evidence based advice from their chief public health advisers and to regulate price promotions on the sale of unhealthy food & drinks.

Committee of Advertising Practise (CAP) banning high fat, salt & sugar (HFSS) advertising in children’s media – new rules could and should go further. Urge a re-examination of the case for further restrictions on advertising HFSS food & drink in the light of the most recent research.

Out of home sector – a call for a change to planning legislation to make it easier for local authorities to limit proliferation of unhealthy food outlets in their areas.

And today (30/03/17) Public Health England published a technical report setting out guidelines on how to achieve a 20% sugar reduction across 9 categories of food (that provide the majority of the sugar in the diets of children up to 18yrs).

For each category, the overall levels of sugar per 100g to achieve the 5% and 20% reductions are provided based on sales weighted averages – to help businesses focus reformulation on the top selling products that make the biggest contribution to sugar levels. Average and maximum calories or portion size guidelines for products likely to be consumed by an individual at one time are also provided – the biggest selling individual portion size products will need to decrease to reduce averages across categories.

To monitor progress, the levels of sugars and calories assessed across food categories in 2015 will be used as the baseline. Two detailed assessments (March 2018, March 2020) will be published to advise on progress with lighter reviews & progress reports at 6 monthly intervals.

AB Food Nutrition works with manufacturers to provide nutrient composition values of their products for labelling and also during product development or reformulation. We can work with you to assess the impact recipe changes will have on nutritional content as well as advising on ways to achieve a desired nutritional profile such as a 5% or 20% sugar reduction. Contact Anne for further information about our nutrition and labelling services.