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 for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential effect of the proposed promotion restrictions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) on reformulation work being undertaken by food and drink manufacturers.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Regular discussions take place between officials and Ministers at Defra and the Department of Health and Social Care on the obesity strategy, including the impact of restrictions for promoting products high in fat, sugar and salt on reformulation efforts. We welcome the achievements food and drink manufacturers have made in reformulating products, and want to support industry to go even further to help meet our shared ambition of tackling obesity.
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 for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of restrictions proposed by the Government on the promotion of foods that are high in fat, sugar or salt on (a) all and (b) SME manufacturers of those foods.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
As a nation we are consuming too much sugar and too many calories. We are therefore encouraging industry to shift the balance of promotions and advertising to healthier options. The Government's response to the consultation on restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar and salt and the accompanying impact assessments was published on 28 December 2020. The Government's response to the consultation on advertising restrictions for products high in fat, salt and sugar and accompanying impact assessment will be published shortly. Defra has not undertaken its own modelling or impact assessments to support the development of the obesity strategy policies, but we work closely with DHSC to ensure their evidence is robust.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has provided modelling on recent trends in food consumption to support the development of (a) the Government’s obesity strategy and (b) plans for the restriction of the advertising and promotion of foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
As a nation we are consuming too much sugar and too many calories. We are therefore encouraging industry to shift the balance of promotions and advertising to healthier options. The Government's response to the consultation on restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar and salt and the accompanying impact assessments was published on 28 December 2020. The Government's response to the consultation on advertising restrictions for products high in fat, salt and sugar and accompanying impact assessment will be published shortly. Defra has not undertaken its own modelling or impact assessments to support the development of the obesity strategy policies, but we work closely with DHSC to ensure their evidence is robust.
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 for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed (a) advertising and (b) promotional restrictions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar on the structure of the UK advertising market.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
My department and the Department of Health and Social Care have carefully considered all views and potential impacts of advertising and promotional restrictions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar, inclusive of sponsorship and outdoor advertising. 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 assessment on mandating calorie labelling of food and drink in out-of-home sector is available at the following link:
The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) by location and by volume is available at the following link:
The developmental impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online was published alongside the 2019 consultation on this policy. This is available at the following link:
An evidence note was published alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for HFSS products. This builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation and is available at the following link:
A consultation proposing a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar closed on 22 December 2020 and is available at the following link:
We will publish the final impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online alongside the full response to the consultations shortly.