Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it his policy to increase the price of unhealthy food to subsidise healthier foods.

We have a comprehensive strategy to improve diets, and to make the healthier choice the easier choice. The Government’s measures with regards to healthy food are focused on consumer behaviour and providing a safety net to those families who need it the most.

Between 2015 and 2020, we have reduced the sugar content of soft drinks by 46% through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, and our voluntary sugar reduction programme has reduced sugar in breakfast cereals by 14.9%. We are also supporting families from low-income households to eat a healthier diet by investing in the Healthy Start scheme, and our School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme has provided nearly 415 million portions of produce to approximately 2.2 million pupils in 2023/24.

From October 2025, we will be introducing an online and television watershed to restrict advertising of unhealthy food and drink, as well as restrictions on the promotion of less healthy foods by volume price, restricting offers such as three for two, both in store and online.