Businesses will be given the freedom to make healthier foods – UK government

Businesses will be allowed to comply with the standard of making the average shopping basket of goods sold slightly healthier however best suits them, according to the Department of Health and Social Care’s target to to tackle obesity epidemic.

In measures that may include reworking recipes and product formulations, altering store designs, providing discounts on nutritious foods, or modifying loyalty programs to encourage healthier choices, food retailers and manufacturers will have to “make the healthy choice the easy choice” in a world-first partnership between government and industry to tackle the obesity epidemic and ease pressure on the NHS as part of the Plan for Change.

As part of the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan, large retailers including supermarkets will be set a new standard to make the average shopping basket of goods sold slightly healthier.

Businesses will be given the freedom to meet the standard however works best for them, whether that’s reformulating products and tweaking recipes, changing shop layouts, offering discounts on healthy foods, or changing loyalty schemes to promote healthier options.

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.

Obesity is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. With the UK now having the third highest rate of adult obesity in Europe, it remains a critical public health challenge, costing the NHS £11.4 billion a year, three times the NHS budget for ambulance services.

Obesity rates have doubled since the 1990s, including among children. A forthcoming report by the chief medical officer will show that more than one in five children are living with obesity by the time they leave primary school, rising to almost 1 in 3 in areas with higher levels of poverty and deprivation.

It follows the government setting out in recent days a number of measures to tackle rapidly growing health inequalities, including investing more in working class communities where health disparities are greatest, and rapid action on the maternal mortality gaps in Black, Asian and working class communities.

Through the Plan for Change, the government is shifting the focus from treatment to prevention and creating a more active state – that works with partners to make the healthy choice the easy choice – and a transition of the NHS from a sickness service to a prevention service.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said the doubling of obesity rates since the 1990s and costs for the NHS at £11 billion a year means a tripling of the budget for ambulance services  and unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable.

“The good news is that it only takes a small change to make a big difference. If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved,” Streeting said.

“This government’s ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever. That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we’re taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life.

“Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores healthier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.

“Through our new healthy food standard, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice, because prevention is better than cure.

“By shifting from sickness to prevention through our Plan for Change, we will make sure the NHS can be there for us when we need it.”

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Britain has some of the best farmers, growers, food manufacturers and retailers in the world, which means we have more choice than ever before on our shelves.

“It is vital for the nation that the food industry delivers healthy food, that is available, affordable and appealing.

“Our food strategy will bring together the health plan, food producers and retailers to make sure we can feed the nation more healthily while growing the economic success of our food sector.”