Cliff Notes
- The UK government is implementing a healthy food standard for supermarkets to combat high obesity rates, aiming to make healthier choices more accessible for consumers.
- Supermarkets must report sales data, with potential financial penalties for those not meeting health targets; measures might include reformulating products and changing store layouts.
- The initiative is part of a broader 10-Year Health Plan focusing on prevention to ease NHS pressures, with support from major food retailers welcoming the government’s actions.
Supermarkets to introduce healthy food standard under government plans to tackle obesity | UK News
A healthy food standard will be introduced for supermarkets and other retailers as part of government plans to tackle obesity levels in the UK.
As part of a government initiative aimed at taking some pressure off the NHS, food retailers and manufacturers will “make the healthy choice the easy choice” for customers in a country with the third highest adult obesity levels in Europe.
Supermarkets will be required to report sales data and those that fail to hit targets could face financial penalties, Nesta, the innovation agency which initially developed the policy, suggested.
Businesses will be free to choose how to implement the new healthy food standard, which aims to make their customers’ average shopping healthier.
Measures could include reformulating products and tweaking recipes, changing shop layouts, offering discounts on healthy foods, or changing loyalty schemes to promote healthier options.
Obesity is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The new scheme, announced on Sunday by the Department for Health and Social Care, is part of the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan, through which the government is seeking to shift from sickness to prevention to alleviate the burden on the NHS.
