THE UK Government has come under fire for refusing to force food companies to publish data on their sales of unhealthy products.
The U-turn is the latest in a series of rollbacks in Tory health policy and means that food companies will not have to report how much of their sales are generated by high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products.
Diet-related disease is estimated to cost the NHS £58 billion a year in lost productivity and workforce inactivity while the combined cost of obesity-related disease to UK businesses is estimated to be £27bn per year.
Criticism of Westminster’s failure to consider mandatory health reporting by food companies has come from a group of influential investment firms together with the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation.
They argue that mandatory reporting creates a level playing field for all companies as the issues facing the food sector such as nutrition, biodiversity loss and climate change are too wide ranging and complex to tackle in isolation.
“By acting together it stops those companies who are trying to make improvements in what they make and sell from becoming uncompetitive against those merely catering to the existing (and lucrative) unhealthy food demand that is causing widespread health issues among the population,” a spokeswoman for Rathbone Greenbank Investments told the Sunday National.
At the moment, health reporting is voluntary and fewer than one in five of the 29 major food retailing, catering and restaurant businesses assessed by the Food Foundation’s Plating Up Progress analysis provide data on sales of healthier foods.
“We believe the metrics need to be made mandatory in order to drive meaningful change,” said the Rathbone Greenbank Investments spokeswoman.
“The decision by the Government to stick firmly to voluntary reporting only on health represents a rollback on what it has previously committed to in last year’s food strategy.”
In June last year, the UK Government said: “We will consult on implementing mandatory public reporting against a set of health metrics and explore a similar approach to sustainability and animal welfare.”
Rathbone Greenbank Investments is one of 25 investment firms with over £6 trillion in assets which has voiced disappointment over the recent rollbacks in Government health policy.
A spokesperson for the group said: “As investors we are supportive of well-designed regulation. Mandatory reporting would support investors to allocate capital to companies who will be resilient in the long-term and allow for targeted policymaking which can address the growing economic risks facing the UK linked to diet.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise the pressures businesses are under and we want to minimise any additional burdens during this challenging time, especially where there is a risk costs may be passed on to consumers.
“We are launching a voluntary partnership which helps businesses by giving them transparency and consistent data to show how they’re giving consumers more choice and better access to healthier foods.
“Voluntary programmes do work – with our sugar reduction programme delivering reductions in the amount of sugar in our foods, including 15% less sugar in breakfast cereals.”
