A new study from IGD reveals that many UK food companies have responded to restrictions on the in-store promotion of foods high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) by making their products healthier at pace.
The report – Reformulation by the Food Industry in the Context of HFSS – shows that 44% of UK food companies that were surveyed have reformulated the nutritional profiles of their products in response to the new HFSS legislation – often at an accelerated pace.
In October 2022, the placement of HFSS products in areas like checkouts, end-of-aisle units, store entrances, and designated queueing areas was banned in England. However, the government delayed a planned introduction of restrictions on multibuy offers earlier this year until October 2025 amid concerns about its impact on consumers struggling with the rising cost of living.
IGD’s Head of Health and Sustainable Diets, Cathy Capelin, said: “The fact that 44% of companies surveyed have reformulated foods in response to the legislation is encouraging for our ambition to make healthy and sustainable diets easy and accessible for everyone.”
While food manufacturers have been reformulating the nutritional profile of products for years, Government targets have been focussed on one nutrient at a time. The advent of the HFSS restrictions has seen accelerated growth in developing multiple nutrients simultaneously in line with the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM). This process consists of reducing use of salt, sugar, energy, fat etc. and increasing the use of nutrients such as fibre, fruit, vegetables, and nuts.
As a result, household favourites dropped in shopping baskets may have different nutritional values than before. IGD’s Health team have collated case studies in the report for Goodfella’s, Aunt Bessie’s, Mr Kipling, Walkers, and Aldi Popcorn.
Previous research from IGD explored how HFSS was activated in shops across the country and what the changes look like. It found that traditional confectionary areas near checkouts have typically been moved to ‘food to go’ aisles, and that items such as gum and vapes are being housed on ‘gondola ends’ instead of confectionary, occasionally alongside healthier choices such as nuts.
Further to this, there are other compelling reasons, as outlined by the report, why food manufacturers and retailers would choose to ‘reformulate,’ such as the government’s voluntary targets on reducing salt, sugar and calories, internal targets, and reducing actual costs for the shopper.
However, IGD noted that the full scope of the industry response to HFSS is yet to be seen. It plans to continue to work with data experts at the University of Leeds and multiple UK retailers to analyse the impacts of HFSS.
The analysis will have a particular focus on how impact may change across different communities, with results due in 2024.
Naomi Kissman, Social Impact Director at IGD, said: ‘The extent and speed of reformulation in response to HFSS legislation is encouraging when considering potential impacts on public health. However, there is still much to be learned about the overall effectiveness of these changes and how we can successfully drive long-term behaviour change. I am excited to continue our work in this area, including data-driven research on HFSS implementation.’
