The UK’s leading supermarkets are among 170 companies that have signed up to the government’s Responsibility Deal to improve public health.

The Department of Health today said Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose had all signed up to the voluntary scheme, as have The Co-operative Group and Marks & Spencer.

Key pledges by foodservice companies, restaurants and retailers include listing calories on menus from September this year; reducing salt in food so people eat 1g less per day; and removing artificial trans-fats from products by the end of this year.

Diageo, Carlsberg and SAB Miller are among the drinks companies supporting pledges to provide clear unit labelling on more than 80% of alcohol by 2013, boost awareness campaigns and develop a new sponsorship code on responsible drinking.

A pledge to improve workplace health has been backed by manufacturing heavyweights Mars and Unilever.

After a successful pilot, the Association of Convenience Stores will roll out Change4Life branding into 1,000 independent stores to improve fruit and vegetable availability in deprived areas.

The pledges were drawn up by five working parties, concentrating on food, alcohol, behavioural change, physical activity and health at work.

“The deals published today demonstrate the effectiveness of our radical partnership approach to deliver more and sooner,” said health secretary Andrew Lansley.

“It is only the first step. While I’m pleased with the progress we have achieved in seven months and that over 170 organisations have already signed up as partners, we want more organisations to sign up and work with us to develop further collective and individual pledges.”

Sue Clark, director of corporate affairs at SAB Miller, added: “It makes complete sense for the government to get all relevant parties around the table to find ways of addressing alcohol abuse.

"A complex, multi-faceted problem like alcohol abuse requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted response – and that is what the Public Health Responsibility Deal provides. It sets out practical, measurable and deliverable steps [that] can be a real catalyst for change if everyone plays their part.”

However, the deal suffered an early blow to its credibility yesterday when a number of health organisations withdrew their support. Half a dozen groups, including Alcohol Concern and the British Medical Association, issued a statement saying the plan did not go far enough in addressing the UK’s drinking problem.

Diabetes UK also said it "cannot consider" signing up to the deal, which it regards as being too soft on unhealthy food.

Read more
Alcohol campaigners accuse Whitehall of cave-in to drinks trade (14 March 2011)