Following the launch of the Food Data Transparency Partnership, DHSC held its first Health Working Group meeting on 21 July 2023. The Group will develop recommendations for a mutually agreed set of health metrics for large food and drink companies that support companies to report in a consistent way. It will consider metrics that incentivise and more 2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restricting-promotions-of-products-high-in-fat-sugar-or-salt-by- location-and-by-volume-price/restricting-promotions-of-products-high-in-fat-sugar-or-salt-by-location-and-by- volume-price-implementation-guidance 3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic- framework/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework--2#:~:text=Alongside%20 our%20call%20for%20evidence,serve%20is%20an%20exciting%20one effectively measure progress towards improving the healthiness of food and will enable and encourage food companies to demonstrate progress on the healthiness of their sales. Reporting will be voluntary. On 11 July 2023 the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published a position statement on processed foods and health4. SACN agrees that the association between higher consumption of ultra-processed foods and adverse health outcomes is concerning. It is unclear whether these foods are inherently unhealthy due to processing or because a large majority of processed foods are high in calories, saturated fat, salt and/ or sugar. SACN made a number of recommendations to improve the available evidence on processed foods and health. Given SACN’s concerns, the committee has added the topic of processed foods to its watching brief and will reconsider the issue at their Horizon scan meeting in June 2024. The UK Eatwell Guide5 already shows that many foods classified as ultra-processed foods are not part of a healthy, balanced diet, and many foods classified as ultra-processed foods are captured by regulations which restrict the placement of products high in saturated fat, salt or sugar in store and online. Recommendations 16, 17 & 18: It is regrettable that the introduction of the ban on volume price promotions of food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) has been further delayed to October 2025. The Government said that these delays were necessary to allow it to consider the impact on consumers and businesses in the light of the “unprecedented global economic situation”. No justification was provided as to why it will take over two years to make this assessment. The Government should set out a detailed timetable for its consideration of how the regulations restricting HFSS food volume price promotions will impact consumers and businesses. (Paragraph 83). We are not convinced that the delay to banning certain volume price promotions for HFSS food will save consumers money, given the Government’s own analysis on this matter. Of less doubt is that it will make the fight against unhealthy eating and obesity even harder. The Government Response should forecast rates of being overweight and being obese had the high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) food volume price promotions been introduced in October 2022 compared to their planned introduction of October 2025. The regulations restricting discounts on HFSS food should be broadened to exclude all price promotions of HFSS food, to ban meal deals where any element of a meal deal has to be cooked prior to eating, and to extend the regulations’ coverage to all food shops. (Paragraph 84) We welcome the steps taken by Sainsbury’s and Tesco to voluntarily stop offering volume price promotions on HFSS food, and call on other supermarkets and smaller shops to swiftly follow their lead in the continue absence of legal restrictions to help tackle the widespread problem of unhealthy eating. We challenge all food shops to go further and to stop all promotions of HFSS food, including single purchase discounts offered to their loyalty scheme holders, and also cook-at-home meal deals such as for pizzas and convenience foods. (Paragraph 86) Given the current challenges caused by higher than expected global energy and food prices, following the pandemic, which have already led to an unavoidable increase in the cost of living around the world, the Government does not want to take action now that could contribute to this rise. We have therefore taken the decision to delay the implementation 4 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-statement-on-processed-foods-and-health 5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide of the volume price promotion restrictions by a further two years, so that the volume price promotion restrictions come into force from October 2025. This delay will support businesses and allow them to focus on making food more affordable for families and make it easier to consumers to make healthier choices. Delaying the volume price promotion restrictions to October 2025 will result