Earlier this summer, the government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition said there was “insufficient evidence” to launch a full review into the health harms caused by ultra-processed foods.

This week, minutes from that meeting showed SACN had recognised the quality of the evidence linking UPFs to health harms had improved since it last considered the issue in 2023, but said that still wasn’t enough for a full risk assessment.

It raises the question: what would be enough? If the evidence is becoming stronger but remains incomplete, surely that is reason enough for a rigorous review, rather than continuing to watch and wait?

There are also questions over SACN’s decision-making process. At the start of the week, Ian Quinn reported that campaigners were calling on new PM Andy Burnham to step in after they criticised the committee’s links with the food industry. With almost impeccable timing, the BMJ later revealed that a third of the government’s nutrition advisers still have “significant ties” to companies including Coca-Cola and Nestlé. Although a recent review banned these conflicts of interest, existing ties are allowed to continue for up to two years.

Unsurprisingly, public health experts – including The Grocer Health Summit keynote speaker Chris van Tulleken, who will be taking to the stage next Tuesday – have warned these conflicts risk undermining trust in the committee’s work and should be removed “immediately”.

It’s here that Burnham can best answer campaigners’ call for action. He is no stranger to the way these things work, having previously admitted he was “lobbied hard” by the food industry when he was health secretary. By commissioning an independent review and investing in research to fill those evidence gaps, he could help break the current UPF deadlock.

But he needs to move quickly. This week, Tesco took matters into its own hands by banning or limiting 114 additives from its own-label range, after more than 80% of its customers said they wanted to eat fewer processed foods. As the UK’s biggest retailer – with an enormous own-label offer – the sheer scale of Tesco’s move is likely to do more to change the food on Britain’s shelves than another year of government inertia.

It’s an intervention that may prove to be a game-changer, but this should not let government off the hook. Supermarkets should not become de facto regulators simply because the government cannot keep up.

My picks this week:

1. Worringly, data editor Elinor Zuke found herself to be the unwilling recipient of a month’s worth of Mounjaro, after an investigation into how GLP-1 medications are sold online resulted in one provider completely bypassed the legally required due diligence. It raises a number of concerning questions aside from the safety of the patients themselves, not least whether off-label prescribing and ‘lighter-touch’ checks risk putting more cautious providers at a commercial disadvantage.

2. Good news and bad news on the inflation front this week. The FDF’s rowback on its previous inflation forecasts was dramatic, with shoppers being handed a Christmas reprieve in the ongoing cost of living crisis as food inflation is now expected to fall six points short of previous estimates by December, as  finance reporter Dominic Bernard reported. But the federation warned at a press conference this week that cost pressures aren’t going away: they’re just being spread over a longer period.

3. Ed Miliband’s announcement of a “new approach” for the UK’s when it comes to dealing with the thorny topic of illegal settlements in the West Bank has made headlines this week, with a ban on imports from the Jewish settlements in the territory set to come into force within the next nine months. As Kevin White reported this week, it’s notoriously difficult to establish just how much produce makes it through from these settlements but the figure could be as high as one in six of all Israeli agrifood shipments to the UK and EU over the past eight years. Global Echo thinks the ban could finally kill off the practice, due to the penalties involved to exporters.

4. More groundbreaking stuff from Amazon, which has allowed its brand name “to be usurped in service of an individual product” for the first time. George Nott reports that the ‘Amazown label’ tagline is being used to promote the e-comm giant’s private label range and fresh grocery delivery across London. While it’s a smart move to be pushing its recently launched same-day delivery service for fresh and perishable groceries, I can’t help but feel the name could have done with a little more thought.

5. To round out the week’s news, global drinks sensation Trip has gone all-in, betting the house on a tie-up with the third most popular member of the Kardashian-Jenner dynasty as it steps up ambitions for American domination. Finance editor Ed Devlin dips his toe into the world of celebrity to explore the benefits of socialite and media personality Kendall Jenner fronting a global marketing campaign as the functional drinks brand’s new ambassador (and, of course, shareholder).

Thanks for reading. We’re always keen to hear your thoughts, so please do email with any questions, comments or feedback on jacqui.parr@thegrocer.co.uk

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