Tesco has urged the government to tackle the growing obesity crisis by forcing all supermarkets and large food businesses to report on the health merits of their food and drink sales, The Grocer can exclusively reveal.
Tesco group CEO Ken Murphy has written an open letter to heath secretary Wes Streeting, backed by the retailer’s powerful health charity partners Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.
Murphy says that with obesity levels climbing to record levels in the UK, the government must make the key move of implementing legislation which forces food companies to report on the healthiness of their offer.
The retailer’s intervention could be a pivotal moment in the war on obesity. Campaign groups have called for years for government to introduce regulation requiring supermarkets and other food businesses to report on health.
Tesco plays a ‘critical part’
Proposals for a voluntary system of health reporting, drawn up under the last government by the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), have been in limbo for more than a year. The Labour government has yet to set out its plans on health, despite the launch of the food strategy and Streeting’s earlier pledge to “steamroll” food companies into action on obesity.
A raft of leading food companies including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, and suppliers such as Nestlé, Mars and General Mills have previously agreed plans which would involve reporting on the percentage sales of HFSS foods, fruit and veg, and both types of proteins (animal and plant).
However, they stopped short of making the moves mandatory, and Murphy now says it is time for government to grasp the nettle.
“There are more people living with obesity in the UK than ever before,” Murphy says in the letter.
“Tesco, along with the food industry, has a critical part to play in supporting preventative health measures, through giving access to affordable, healthier, quality food.
“Through our partnership with Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, we have shown that collaboration can drive meaningful change.
“But to truly support public health, we need consistent, transparent reporting across the industry. We urge the UK government to take this important step forward to make healthier food sales reporting mandatory.”
Murphy also adds:
“It is increasingly clear that the scale of change needed for better health outcomes to support productivity and growth across the UK is beyond any one partnership or organisation.
“Inconsistency in how food businesses report on the healthiness of food and drink sales, with some not reporting at all, is not only confusing for the consumer, but makes it difficult to assess industry-wide progress.”
Improving public health
Tesco held a summit with its charity partners last week. Together they are calling on the government to implement mandatory healthier food sales reporting, using a set of agreed and consistent health metrics, which they said would “improve the health of the nation”.
The move comes after Tesco reported earlier this month it was on track to meet its 65% healthier sales target by the end of this year.
“There is no doubt that mandatory reporting on healthier food sales will drive improvements across the food industry, and it is great to see a leading retailer like Tesco already transparently sharing their progress,” said British Heart Foundation CEO Charmaine Griffiths.
“We urge governments across the UK to adopt this measure as soon as possible. Doing so would mark a major step forward towards a world in which people’s hearts are healthier, for longer.”
Cancer Research UK CEO Michelle Mitchell added: “As well as fully implementing legislation to restrict the advertising and price promotion of unhealthy food and drink, the UK government must go further by introducing mandatory reporting on healthy food sales.
“These steps will ensure everyone can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”
Diabetes UK CEO Colette Marshall said: “The food industry has a key part to play in making healthy, affordable choices accessible to everyone. That’s why this call, with Tesco and our health charity partners, is significant because it would improve transparency and ensure businesses can be held to account.
“The government’s ambition to ‘shift the dial’ from sickness to prevention can only be achieved if addressing the rise of Type 2 diabetes is central to its strategy. It’s a shift that must be driven by public health policies like this one, as well as the junk food marketing ban.”
1 Readers' comment