A government-commissioned review has called for taxes to be introduced on sugar and salt going into food products as part of a series of measures aimed at improving the nation’s diet and tackling climate change.
The National Food Strategy report was drawn up by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, with advice from experts across the food system, including former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King. It highlights that the UK population’s “malfunctioning” appetites – fuelled by consumer and manufacturer’s reliance on processed food – is placing an unsustainable burden on the NHS and doing “terrible damage to our planet”.
The most eye-catching recommendation is a levy of £3 a kilo on sugar and £6 a kilo on salt sold wholesale for use in processed food, restaurants, and catering. This ‘world-first’ tax would raise around £3.4bn a year and could fund the expansion of free schools meals and an overhaul of the UK’s food and cooking culture.
The levies would increase the price of a Mars bar, which contains around 30g of sugar, from 65p to 74p, and a bag of crisps by around 1p. However, Dimbleby stressed that the main objective would be to encourage manufacturers to reduce sugar and salt content as the existing soft drinks levy, which the new tax would replace, had done.
Other recommendations include working to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables by 30% over the next 10 years. Over the same timeframe, the report suggests that meat-eating needs to decline by 30% and the intake of high-fat sugar and salt foods be cut by 25%.
“This is not a wish list of ideas that we hope might help,” said Dimbleby. “These are concrete proposals for immediate action, which we have explored in depth and are confident will work.”
However, the plan does not include suggestions for a tax on red meat as called for by some environmental campaigners to tackle climate change. “We quickly realised this would be politically impossible, for now, at least,” said Dimbleby.
“We believe the government would be better off nudging consumers into changing their habits while investing in methane-reduction projects and the development of alternative proteins.”
Suggestions to move consumers away from meat include putting veggie sausages alongside meat ones and using plant-based meats as replacements in processed foods.
The government has already laid out plans to restrict TV and online advertising and promotions in supermarkets for products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) from next year. Health and environmental campaigners broadly welcomed the latest suggestions laid out in the National Food Strategy report.
However, Kate Halliwell, Chief Scientific Officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said the proposed taxes would “ultimately impact those families who are already struggling to make ends meet by making food and drink more expensive”.
She added: “These taxes will not drive reformulation. Food and drink manufacturers have been voluntarily lowering fat, salt and sugars in recipes for decades as well as reducing portion size, but it takes time to change much-loved products. Furthermore, the Government’s proposed advertising ban and promotions restrictions would limit the ways in which companies can let families know about exciting new options.
“It is hard to view the proposals that the taxes raised will pay for additional health plans, with anything but scepticism. The same promise was made ahead of the introduction of the soft drinks industry levy, but was quietly dropped shortly afterwards.”
Meanwhile, Susan Barratt, CEO of IGD, commented: “We support the direction of travel set out in the National Food Strategy, which aligns with IGD’s own ambition to see an acceleration in the progress towards a more sustainable food system and to make healthy and sustainable diets easy for everyone.
“We also welcome the NFS’s ambition to involve the whole industry in this challenge, and for providing clarity around the required dietary shift at a national level. In addition, we recognise the value of the open and transparent approach that the NFS recommends.
“While many of the recommendations from the National Food Strategy will prove challenging, for parts of the food system, we believe they are a constructive step in the right direction. We know from our conversations with businesses across our industry that there is a real desire to find a clear way forward and to help deliver a long-term positive change to Britain’s food system.
“There is now more to be done, as the government works through the details of how the recommendations will be implemented in a way that is both practical and achievable for our industry. IGD stands ready to play our part in that process; we have a unique ability to bring stakeholders together from across the whole food and grocery industry. We are ready to work with organisations across the food system to help them navigate through the implications of the National Food Strategy.”
The government is expected to consider Dimbleby’s recommendations over the summer and publish a white paper early next year.
NAM Implications:
- Key issue could be the fact that poorer consumers satisfy their (and their childrens’) current appetites…
- …via available food because they cannot afford the price of healthier options.
