The UK government has announced new healthy food standards for businesses in the UK in a bid to tackle the country’s growing obesity problem.
Announced as part of the UK’s ten-year health plan, this change will required large retailers such as supermarkets to meet a new standard to make the average shopping basket of goods sold slightly healthier.
Supermarkets and other businesses will be allowed to meet the standard in whichever way works best for them, but they will be required to the government on healthy food sales.
The government will then work with the Food Strategy Advisory Board to create and roll out targets to increase the healthiness of sales across the UK.
Measures supermarkets could take to meet the new healthy food standards including reformulating products and recipes, changing shop layouts, offering discounts on healthy foods, or changing loyalty schemes to promote healthier options.
The government said cutting the calorie count of a daily diet by just 50 calories could lift 340,000 children and 2 million adults out of obesity. It added that if everyone who is overweight reduced their daily intake by the equivalent of a single bottle of fizzy drink, obesity would be halved.
These changes form part of the government’s wider ten-year health plan, which is due to be published shortly and aims to radically reform the NHS and improve Britain’s health.
“This government’s ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever. That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we’re taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life,” said Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting.
“Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores heathier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.”
NHS England Director for Public Health Sarah Price said that improving diets and ensuring long-term health is good for both the public and the health service.
“That is why this move to make it easier for people to shop for healthy and nutritious food options is so important – it will help people reduce the risk of developing a range of life-altering physical conditions, such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes – both of which are on the increase in England,” Price said.
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