Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to support mandatory reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar to improve their nutritional profile by reducing those elements.

The Government is delivering mandatory policies which support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar. These include the soft drinks industry levy and restrictions on the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in-store and online. The Government also has a voluntary programme on reduction and reformulation to encourage the food industry to gradually and incrementally lower the levels of sugar, salt and calories in everyday foods and to stimulate the production of healthier products without consumers having to make changes.

In addition, we will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price from 1 October 2023, and restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on television and paid-for advertising of less healthy products online from 1 October 2025, restrictions which are also expected to support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar.