The academics responsible for last week’s landmark report on the effectiveness of the government HFSS promotions ban are now calling for the measures to be extended to thousands more unhealthy products.
The Grocer has learnt that professors Michelle Morris, of Leeds University and Alexandra Johnstone, of the Rowett Institute, Aberdeen, will meet with the government in the next few weeks to discuss the recommended next steps for the food strategy and the government’s 10-year-plan for the NHS.
They will call on the DHSC and Defra to expand the scope of the ban beyond the 13 pre-packaged products covered by the original legislation brought in by the previous government.
Last week’s report – which was supported by the IGD and included participation from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – strongly criticised the previous government’s implementation of the promotions ban, despite it having cut HFSS sales by two million products per day,
A second phase to ban multibuy promotions, including bogofs, for HFSS products, is due to come into force in October. It had been delayed by former prime minister Rishi Sunak because of the cost of living crisis.
However, the researchers say the ban should be extended to cover all HFSS products, including non pre-packaged goods such as those in in-store bakeries, loose confectionery and pick ‘n’ mix sections, which are currently excluded from the ban.
It has also emerged that the research is to be followed up with a focus on the role of ultra-processed foods in obesity, to provide an evidence base for intervention by the government.
The moves comes as the government is understood to be preparing to launch the next phase of its plans to tackle the obesity crisis under Wes Streeting’s 10-year-plan and the food strategy. Retailers and manufacturers are set to face mandatory reporting on health and a new system of targets.
However, industry sources have warned that the moves will heap more red tape on retailers and suppliers, and push up food prices.
“One way of strengthening the legislation, without creating confusion, is to reduce the number of exempt products – include all HFSS products regardless of whether they are pre-packaged or not,” said Morris.
Johnstone added: “We have not been able to investigate the impact of out-of-scope HFSS product sales during this project. Future research should investigate this.
“The project team have already met with Defra colleagues and the National Food Strategy team, to give them verbal and written updates from the project.
“We have also invited them to a meeting in London next month, to prioritise sharing these insights with key policy stakeholders.
“We have also engaged with policy colleagues across the devolved nations.”
Asked about future research in the pipeline, she added: “From my perspective, I am keen on future research to examine the role of ultra-processed food on overweight and obesity, with emphasis on mechanistic evidence for policy.”
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