Speaking in advance of the launch of Public Health England's Sugar Reduction Programme, a spokesman for the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has firmly distanced the industry from the proposal to reduce the sugar content of manufactured foods across the board by a fifth by 2020.
In fact, the FDF now says it never signed up to the plan in the first place. The statement said, 'We have said consistently that a 20% sugar reduction by 2020 across all foods covered won't be technically possible or acceptable to UK consumers'.
Instead, 'responsible companies' will work with Public Health England to lower sugars (by an unspecified amount), and where that isn't possible, make portions smaller or encourage switching to lower-sugar alternatives. Read the full statement here.
Malcolm Clark, coordinator of Sustain's Children's Food Campaign, commented: “The Food and Drink Federation likes sabre-rattling, but we know from experience that many of the individual food manufacturers and brands themselves take a more constructive stance to public health measures – whether on front-of-pack nutrition labelling, the sugary drinks tax, or on sugar reduction targets. We look forward to Public Health England confirming the 20% by 2020 target and companies and PHE working together to achieve it.”
Sustain campaigns for a greener, fairer and healthier food system. Read more about our campaign to make children's food healthier here.
Children's Food Campaign: Campaigning for policy changes so that all children can easily eat sustainable and healthy food.
