New polling commissioned to coincide with the launch of Recipe for Change’s Citizens’ Charter makes for uncomfortable reading for the food industry and for any minister still reluctant to step in.
Seven out of 10 Brits believe food companies should be doing more to make healthy food available and more than eight out of 10 (84%) think they should do more to make it more affordable – numbers which have risen since we last asked the question 18 months ago. And despite this, a huge majority (79%) are not confident that companies will act to make their food healthier without government forcing them to.
Mistrust also runs deep. Only one in five people think food companies are honest about how healthy their products are, and almost two-thirds think businesses have raised prices by more than necessary to protect profits. These aren’t the views of a vocal minority, this is the mainstream consumer position. For an industry that depends on public trust to grow, that should give them pause.
Recipe for Change is a coalition of 45 organisations led by Sustain, The Food Foundation and the Obesity Health Alliance, and we have just launched a citizen-led call for a healthier, fairer food system that will gather public signatures before being handed to MPs in Westminster this autumn. This is rooted in the voices of everyday people and backed up by nationally representative polling. We are not opponents of a successful food industry. But we, like the citizens we spoke to, want to see growth that works for everyone. Right now, the evidence suggests it is not.
It is also worth being honest about how we got here. The argument that food-related ill health is essentially a matter of individual choice has been convenient for a long time. And while it sounds reasonable in the abstract, it is considerably less convincing when you look at the reality many families face: a high street where the least healthy options are the cheapest and most visible, a food environment shaped around commercial priorities rather than public health, and a system that pushes the hardest sell on those with the least financial room to push back. Telling people to try harder is not a prevention strategy.
The financial backdrop sharpens the picture further. Analysis by OC&C and The Grocer found that the UK’s 10 largest packaged food and drink manufacturers posted combined operating profits of more than £1.7bn in 2025. Meanwhile, more than eight in 10 of those who say it has become harder to eat well cite rising food prices, and 70% point to the fact that unhealthy options are simply cheaper. Strong returns are not a problem in themselves. But when they sit alongside a population increasingly priced out of eating well, the human cost becomes harder to ignore.
The health data reinforces the urgency. Children from the most deprived communities are almost twice as likely to be living with obesity by their first year of school as those from the least deprived. On average, children consume less than half the recommended amount of fruit & vegetables but twice the recommended amount of sugar. These outcomes are not accidental. They reflect commercial decisions about what gets made, how it is priced, and where it is sold. Some 61% of the public believe food companies should contribute to the cost of food-related ill health, reflecting the accountability that many feel the food industry needs to take.
This government has made economic growth its defining mission, and we share that ambition. But sustainable growth depends on a healthy population, and a healthy population requires a food environment where eating well is genuinely within reach. A clear and consistent regulatory framework benefits the businesses already trying to do the right thing: it levels the playing field and gives them the certainty to invest in reformulation rather than being undercut by those less inclined to do so. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy showed that when rules are clear, industry adapts and everyone benefits.
The Citizens’ Charter is a clear expression of where public opinion now stands. Ministers have a strong mandate to act. The question for industry is whether it wants to help build a food system that works for everyone or face the consequences of failing to do so.
Kate Howard is Children’s Food Campaign Coordinator at Sustain
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