Sustain joins 65 organisations warning Chancellor: don’t weaken food health measures in the name of cost of living

Sustain is one of 65 leading health organisations and experts that today signed an open letter to the Chancellor warning that the Government’s flagship ambition – to shift the NHS from sickness to prevention – risks failing before it has begun.

The letter, coordinated by the Obesity Health Alliance and co-signed by Kath Dalmeny on behalf of Sustain, urges ministers to protect, not weaken, two evidence-based policies central to improving the nation’s food environment: the updated Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) for advertising and promotions restrictions, and the proposed Healthy Food Standard, which would require large food businesses to report on and improve the healthiness of their sales.

Addressed directly to the Chancellor, the letter makes a clear economic argument: weakening these measures would be a false economy. Rising food prices are being driven by global commodity shocks, conflict, extreme weather and wider economic instability – not by public health regulation. Government’s own analysis estimates that applying the updated NPM to advertising and promotions restrictions would deliver £36.9 billion in health and economic benefits over 25 years, reducing childhood obesity by 110,000 cases and adult obesity by 520,000 cases, at an industry implementation cost of less than £3 billion over the same period.

Katharine Jenner, interim Chair of Sustain and Executive Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said:

“Weakening these measures now would be a false economy. It won’t make food cheaper, but it will drive up the long-term costs of preventable illness for families and for the NHS.”

The signatories are clear that this is not a choice between supporting families with the cost of living and improving public health. On the contrary: it is children and families on the lowest incomes who bear the greatest burden of an unhealthy food environment. New NHS figures show more than 6,000 children were treated at specialist obesity clinics in England last year, including children as young as four. The Food Foundation’s latest Broken Plate report, also published this week, reveals the price gap between healthier and less healthy food is now at its widest in over a decade.

The coalition is calling on the Government to take three immediate steps:

• Publish a formal consultation on mandatory health reporting before the summer recess, with a commitment to implementation next year.
• Introduce legislation for the Healthy Food Standard – including mandatory reporting and mandatory health targets – within this Parliament.
• Apply the updated Nutrient Profiling Model to advertising and promotions restrictions, with a clear and defensible mechanism for implementation, ensuring it does not delay progress on the Healthy Food Standard.

The signatories include medical royal colleges, major health charities, academic experts and patient organisations. The letter was published on 11 June 2026.

Kate Howard, Children’s Food Campaign Coordinator said:

"The public have made it clear that they want healthier food on shop shelves, now - as demonstrated in the calls of our citizen-led campaign ‘We’re Fed Up!’. Families are facing rising food costs, but weakening measures designed to improve the food environment is not the answer. The Government must stay focused on creating a food system that makes healthy options available to everyone.”

Read the full open letter on the Obesity Health Alliance website.