Food and drink manufacturers further reduce calories, sugar and salt

The average UK shopping basket has become healthier within recent years, with a 9 per cent reduction in the overall Nutrient Profile Model since 2018, a new report has shown.

According to the latest Kantar Worldpanel data, released by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), products from FDF members now contribute 13 per cent fewer calories, 15 per cent fewer sugars and 24 per cent less salt to the average shopping basket than they did eight years ago.

This is based on metrics developed by government to enable nutritionists to ‘score’ food, looking at a whole range of factors from sugar to protein to fruit and vegetable content.

The orgnisation said the reduction is largely due to the food and drink industry making changes to support balanced diets, including improving the recipes of the favourite brands, innovating with new healthier options and providing appropriate portion sizes.

“Our companies are committed to helping people live healthy lives and we recognise the important role we play in offering a range of healthier choices for consumers.  These latest figures show the fantastic achievements the UK food and drink industry continues to deliver, throughout a challenging period of uncertainty, and we should celebrate this,” Kate Halliwell, chief scientific officer at the FDF, said.

“Manufacturers have continued to innovate and bring new healthier products to market. Whether that’s adding more vegetables to a pasta sauce, reducing sugar in a breakfast cereal or enabling you to choose a smaller portion of cake, this has had a real demonstrable impact on the average shopping basket, supporting the nation to have access to a healthy balanced diet.”

The latest data also found that the FDF’s largest companies have managed to achieve improvements on nutrition which are around four times that of smaller companies.

Halliwell added: “This data demonstrates that more support is needed to help smaller businesses match the innovation and output of the larger companies. With 97 per cent of the food and drink industry made up by small to medium sized companies, these companies can play an important role in providing healthier options but many do not have the resources, or technical expertise to reformulate their products.

“The industry stands ready to work with government to drive further innovation within our sector, and to work in partnership to power the health of our workforce and communities across the UK.”

Commenting, British Nutrition Foundation chief executive Elaine Hindal said: “Reformulation has an important part to play in helping people to have healthier diets, through improving the nutrient profile of food. Although on its own reformulation can only take us so far on the journey towards supporting healthier and more sustainable dietary patterns, it is encouraging to see the progress shown by this new data and that there is consideration for how to ensure all businesses – regardless of size – get the support they need to improve the nutrient profile of their products.”