Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise public awareness of foods that are high in fat and salt, and their associated health risks.

The Department has a series of websites and digital tools that support adults and families to eat better, providing guidance on healthy eating, including raising awareness about foods that are high in fat and salt and suggesting healthier alternatives.

The Government recently launched the NHS Healthy Choices Quiz to help adults to identify changes that they can make to improve their health. It includes questions on their eating habits to enable them to assess their diet across five key areas, including fat and salt.

The NHS Food Scanner app shows people how much saturated fat, sugar, and salt is in everyday food and drink consumed by families in England. It helps people to choose foods that are lower in saturated fat and salt by encouraging them to look for more ‘greens’ and ‘ambers’ and cut down on 'reds'. It also suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, with products that are lower in saturated fat/salt.

The new Best Start in Life campaign and website provide support and guidance on topics including healthy eating in pregnancy, and healthy weaning.

Better Health Families supports those with primary aged children to eat well and move more. It uses personalised email programmes, for instance Healthy Steps, social media, and other tools, for instance the Food Scanner app, to support families on their diet. Specific guidance is provided on the website for both salt and saturated fat.