Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations contained in the McKinsey Global Institute's report <i>Overcoming obesity: an initial economic analysis</i>; and in particular whether they intend to take a stronger approach towards reformulation, labelling, and marketing practices, in the light of the report's findings.

McKinsey Global Institute's report Overcoming obesity: an initial economic analysis reminds us how costly obesity is, not just to the individual, but also to the global economy. As the report makes clear there is no single solution that will fix the problem, but in the United Kingdom, we are moving in the right direction with obesity rates levelling off.

Through our voluntary partnership with industry we are working with the food and drink industry to help people make healthier choices. Some of our biggest supermarkets and food manufacturers have made commitments to help people cut their calorie consumption through reformulation, portion size reductions and promoting healthier options. We are the first country in Europe to introduce a voluntary front of pack nutrition labelling scheme. Businesses that have committed to use this scheme account for nearly two-thirds of all food sold in the UK.