Food industry’s reliance on salt, sugar, and heavy processing is keeping prices low but at a significant cost to public health, claims a new report.
According to a report by Sky, food manufacturers drive down costs by stripping fibre from food and adding preservatives like salt and sugar, which extend shelf life and reduce wastage.
“When companies process foods, they do that in order to maximise their profit," states Professor Tim Jackson, an ecological economist at the University of Surrey.
“Built into this system is also that the incentives are for companies to try and make people over-eat their products.”
A Food Foundation study cited in the report found products higher in salt, sugar and fat cost an average of £4.30 per 1,000 calories, compared to £8.80 for healthier options — fuelling growing nutritional inequality.
Professor Jackson warned that the removal of fibre has serious health implications.
“Our bodies can't function without fibre,” he said. “We get leaky gut, inflammation, and the precursors to chronic disease.”
He added that human cravings for salt, fat and sugar, once evolutionary necessities, are now exploited by food manufacturers to encourage overconsumption.
The report also notes that heavily processed food companies have economic advantages over agriculture, including the ability to scale through mergers and lobbying power. It estimates the UK’s unhealthy food system costs the economy £268 billion a year in chronic disease.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) responded, telling the Sky there was “little evidence” that food itself is addictive, citing a 2023 Government Office for Science roundtable. It stressed the industry is “highly regulated” and that its members have significantly reduced calories, sugar, and salt in products since 2015.
Nonetheless, the report highlights the widening gap between health outcomes across different income groups.
Children from the least wealthy 20 per cent of households are nearly twice as likely to be obese by their first year at school compared to their wealthier peers, the Food Foundation found.
“It looks cheap on supermarket shelves, but the costs are enormous,” Jackson said, warning that the true price is being paid through the healthcare system, social services, and individual suffering."
Meanwhile, the government says it is "tackling the obesity crisis head-on".
A spokesman says the government is giving councils "stronger powers" to block new fast-food outlets near schools and is cracking down on junk food adverts, with restrictions before the 9pm watershed coming into force from October.
"We are encouraging healthy diets for those on low incomes through our Healthy Start programme, helping children and families by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, and providing free healthy food for millions of children during the holidays."
