Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2021 to Question 153180 on Food: Marketing, whether he has plans to introduce new incentives for food and drink manufacturers to continue to reformulate products that are high in fat, salt and sugar.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Incentives already exist for businesses to reformulate their products including reformulating to achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold to become out of scope of the promotion restrictions, meeting Public Health England's reformulation programme guidelines, consumer demand for healthier products and the possibility of making nutrition claims.
As outlined in the ‘Restricting location promotions of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products: impact assessment’, there would be non-monetised health benefits from manufacturers reformulating their HFSS products providing a reduction in fat, salt and sugar in products. In addition, preventing obesity related ill health will also result in a healthier workforce, which is likely to be more productive. The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar by location and by volume are available at the following link:
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2021 to Question 153180 on Food: Marketing, what assessment has been made of the potential effect of policies in the Government’s strategy, entitled Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, on the ability of food and drink manufacturers to promote reformulated products.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Incentives already exist for businesses to reformulate their products including reformulating to achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold to become out of scope of the promotion restrictions, meeting Public Health England's reformulation programme guidelines, consumer demand for healthier products and the possibility of making nutrition claims.
As outlined in the ‘Restricting location promotions of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products: impact assessment’, there would be non-monetised health benefits from manufacturers reformulating their HFSS products providing a reduction in fat, salt and sugar in products. In addition, preventing obesity related ill health will also result in a healthier workforce, which is likely to be more productive. The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar by location and by volume are available at the following link:
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has has with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on incentivising food and drink manufacturers to reduce the (a) fat, (b) salt and (c) sugar content of their products.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on improving the health and wellbeing of the nation including on measures set out in our healthy weight strategy and the Food Strategy White Paper.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that new regulations proposed by his Department on the promotion of foods that are high in fat, sugar or salt (HSFF) do not place different competitive advantages on (a) large and (b) SME manufacturers of those products.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We carefully consider all views and potential impacts of our measures to reduce obesity. This includes feedback from a wide range of experts and stakeholders on specific policy proposals and in response to our public consultations.
The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar by location and by volume is available at the following link:
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the proposed ban on advertising online food and drink high in salt, fat and sugar, whether products designated as high in fat, salt or sugar will be re-categorised if the fat, salt and sugar content is reduced.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current proposal for what food and drink is classed as in scope of further advertising restrictions online and on TV, is to use the categories originally put forward by Public Health England (PHE) as part of the calorie reduction programme, sugar reduction programme and the soft drinks industry levy overlaying this with the 2004/05 Nutrient Profiling Model. Officials are considering the final list put forward by PHE as well as views fed in as part of the consultation process to come to a final decision on what products are in scope and will publish our full response to the consultation shortly.
The Nutrient Profiling Model uses a simple scoring system where points allocated for ‘C’ nutrients (fruit, vegetables and nut content, fibre and protein) are subtracted from ‘A’ nutrients (energy, saturated fat, total sugar and sodium). Foods scoring four or more points, and drinks scoring one or more points, are classified as ‘less healthy’ and will be subject to the restrictions.
Products that are reformulated and achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold will be out of scope of the restrictions and therefore able to advertise.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed restrictions on (a) advertising and (b) promotion of on foods high in fat, salt or sugar on alcohol marketing and advertising.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Policies on advertising restrictions and restricting the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar by location and by volume are part of a package of measures with the primary aim of reducing childhood obesity. Our promotions policy is focused on food and non-alcoholic drinks.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of restrictions on the promotion of foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar on reformulation work being undertaken by food and drink manufacturers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar by location and by volume, which include the potential effect of the policy on reformulation, is available at the following link:
Encouraging the reformulation of food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar is part of our policy objective. There is incentive for businesses to reformulate their products to achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold, and therefore be out of scope of the promotion restrictions. There are further incentives for reformulation including consumer demand for healthier products, the possibility of making nutrition claims and Public Health England's reformulation programme, which can encourage manufacturers to reduce the fat, salt and sugar levels in their products.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to introduce compulsory (a) calorie labelling and (b) nutritional information for foods purchased (i) from takeaway venues and (ii) via apps.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has consulted on how the policy on calorie labelling for food and drink served outside of the home by large out-of-home sector businesses, with 250 or more employees, should be enforced and is considering what the final enforcement position should be. We will introduce legislation shortly.
There are no current plans to introduce further compulsory nutrition labelling on foods purchased in the out-of-home sector.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of food ordered on UK food delivery apps in the last 12 months that is classified as high in fat, sugar and salt.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to exempt SME food and drink manufacturers from proposed restrictions on online advertising of foods high if fat, sugar and salt.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar asked a question on the impact of the proposals on small businesses and we are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. We will publish the response to the consultation shortly.