Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that Government advice on Public Health England’s healthy eating EATWELL plate informs (a) food purchasing during the covid-19 outbreak (b) food supply chains.

In the United Kingdom, the national food model, the Eatwell Guide (EG), provides a visual representation of Government recommendations on a healthy balanced diet.

The EG and associated messaging is promoted through a range of existing channels including: the NHS.UK website, the GOV.UK website, and the Government’s national social marketing campaigns Change4Life and OneYou. The principles of the guide also underpin Government guidance and tools including the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services and Public Health England’s catering guidance.

The food industry has been working hard to keep food including fresh produce flowing into stores and people’s houses. The Government has well-established ways of working with the food industry during disruption to supply situations. We have regular engagement with industry who are continuing to monitor the situation closely, taking the necessary steps to address issues where they arise. Following a significant spike in consumer demand, we have now seen stock levels in supermarkets improve. To support the food sector, the Government temporarily relaxed competition law and regulations relating to driver hours and delivery times so that the sector could work together to keep putting food on the shelves.