Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made in reducing the sugar content of products for babies and young children.

Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for the sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme, a key commitment in the Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan. PHE will work with all sectors of the food industry (retailers, manufacturers and the eating out of the home sector) to reduce the amount of sugar in the foods that contribute most to children’s diets by 20% by 2020, with a 5% reduction in the first year. This initially focuses the programme on yoghurts, biscuits, cakes, morning goods (for example croissants and pastries), puddings, ice-cream, breakfast cereals, confectionery and sweet spreads. Products that are intended for consumption by babies and young children are included in PHE’s programme and will be considered in further detail in spring 2017. Infant formula is excluded from this programme since its composition is governed by legislation.