Tesco has become the latest – and biggest – supermarket to back calls for Andy Burnham to introduce a new Good Food Bill to tackle food insecurity and health.
The retailer has, until now, been the big name missing in the cross industry/NGO collaboration calling for legislation to tackle some of the biggest issues regarding resilience and the growing number of people living in food insecurity.
Its backing is being seen as a huge boost to the campaign, which today saw a letter signed by more than 100 organisations across the food industry and related bodies calling on the PM to take action.
“We believe every child should have the opportunity to grow up healthy and thrive,” said Tesco UK CEO Ashwin Prasad, on its decision to join other retailers – including the likes of M&S and Sainsbury’s as well as a list of major manufacturers – in calling for the Bill.
The Grocer first revealed in February that groups were calling for the regulation, which comes after Keir Starmer stepped in to strip a proposed Food White Paper from the government’s food strategy last year.
Supporters want the government to set legally binding targets to reduce childhood obesity, increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables and the proportion grown in Britain, and reduce household food insecurity.
The campaign also calls for Good Food action plans setting out how the targets will be met.
Today’s letter states: “As leaders from business, investment, civil society, academia and the health sector, we are writing to ask you to bring forward a Good Food Bill, placing Britain’s food security, public health and resilience on a statutory long-term footing.
“In your leadership speech in Manchester on 29 June 2026, you identified food and farming as one of the UK’s critical sectors alongside energy and defence and argued that growth ‘can only be nurtured from the bottom up’.
“We strongly share that vision. A Good Food Bill would put food where it belongs: at the heart of national strategy. It would give successive governments clear responsibility to improve the food system over the long term to create healthier communities, thriving local economies and lower levels of food insecurity.”
The Grocer revealed earlier this month that the government’s Food Strategy Advisory Board, made up of retail leaders, food manufacturing bosses and academics, had discussed the benefits of a Good Food Bill amid growing concerns that there needs to be legislation to tackle the big issues faced.
A source said: “Having Tesco on board to support this is a huge boost for the campaign. It’s already got very big names involved, with Sainsbury’s signing up recently but Tesco is the UK’s biggest and most powerful supermarket.”
“We we are proud to support the Good Food Bill and its ambition to create a long-term legal framework that helps ensure children and future generations can access healthy food and lifestyles,” added Prasad.
“The Good Food Bill has the potential to provide the accountability and long-term commitment needed to drive meaningful change, and by working together across government, business and communities, we can shape a food system that genuinely supports healthier futures for generations to come.”
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