30 Dec 2020 Food Active welcomes Government’s New Year’s Resolution to restrict junk food promotions in retailers
Today the Government have announced much anticipated details on new plans to introduce restrictions on the promotion of less healthy food and drink by price and place across the retail environment.
Alex Holt, Programme Lead at Food Active said:
“We have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of this all-important measure to support healthier food and drink choices by consumers, first consulted on almost 2 years ago which Food Active submitted a response to.
As part of our 10-point policy call, we have been lobbying for an end to the marketing of less healthy food and drink across all platforms – including in retailers, in the form of price (i.e. 2 for 1) and promotions placed in prominent areas of the store (i.e. checkouts or end of aisles).
Evidence shows that the large part of price promotions are typically on less healthy food and drink options – our research in the North West demonstrated that the number of promotions brought on less healthy products dwarfed the number of healthier promotions purchased.
Furthermore, this type of marketing, as well as place-based promotions, are everywhere – not just in supermarkets – as our research conducted with the UK Health Forum found back in 2018. We are pleased to see that the proposed legislation will include all forms of retailers as this was a key call we made as part of our submission to the initial consultation.
Therefore we welcome today’s announcement by the Government and commend them on taking this important step towards improving our food environment in order to support healthier lifestyles – which is more important than ever as we attempt to build back healthier following the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Our response
You can read our submission to the consultation below (submitted 22nd February 2021).
Read our submission here.
About the consultation
The press release from Number 10 has advised that the restrictions will apply to the following:
- multi-buys of high in fat, sugar and/or salt (hereafter HFSS) food and drinks in all medium and large retailers (including non-food),franchises and online.
- pre-packaged HFSS food and drinks largely in line with Public Health England’s reformulation categories (i.e. food and drinks that contribute most to children’s excess sugar and calorie intakes)
The restrictions on location promotions will apply to the following:
- medium and large retailers (including non-food) and franchises, with exemptions for specialist retailers and those with under 2k sq ft space.
- entrances, aisle ends and checkouts plus online equivalent (e.g. suggested items at checkouts)
- pre-packaged HFSS food and drinks largely in line with Public Health England’s reformulation categories (i.e. food and drinks that contribute most to children’s excess sugar and calorie intakes)
The consultation is seeking views on these proposals until Monday 22nd February, with a view to the regulation coming into force by April 2022. Want to share your views? You can respond here.
Still not convinced? You can also view our position statement on Junk Food Promotions below.
Position Statement: Junk Food Promotions