3rd Report – Food and Weight Management: Fixing the food environment

Key findings

• Obesity rates continue rising despite 14 strategies and 689 policies since 1992; the current food environment actively pushes people toward unhealthy food, making obesity primarily an environmental rather than individual responsibility.
• The nutrient profiling model used to define 'less healthy' foods has not been updated since 2004; a revised 2018 model incorporating current dietary recommendations remains unimplemented despite eight years of delay.
• Mandatory healthy food sales reporting—the government's flagship obesity policy—has seen no visible progress over 12 months since announcement; supermarkets support mandatory reporting but oppose enforcement mechanisms like fines.
• Healthier foods cost more than twice as much per calorie as unhealthy foods (£8.80 vs £4.30 per 1,000kcal); the most deprived households would need to spend 49% of disposable income on a healthy diet, up from 45% in 2024.
• The Healthy Start scheme reaches only 66% of eligible families in England versus 92% in Scotland; voucher values have not increased since 2021 despite significant food inflation, and technical barriers prevent retailer top-ups.

Recommendations

• Implement the 2018 nutrient profiling model by end of 2027 at latest, and establish a 10-year cycle for regular updates to prevent relying on 22-year-old scientific advice.
• Launch mandatory healthy food sales reporting immediately, with binding targets for supermarkets within 12 months and wider food industry by end of Parliament; enforce with penalties including fines on a sliding scale overseen by the Food Standards Agency.
• Require large food businesses reporting on healthy sales targets to also report the percentage of price promotions on healthier foods like fruits and vegetables.
• Update Healthy Start voucher values to reflect food inflation with annual reviews; resolve technical barriers within 6 months to enable retailer top-ups; extend eligibility to all children in Universal Credit households; bridge the eligibility gap between Healthy Start (age 4) and infant free school meals through extended age threshold; implement auto-enrolment by removing legislative barriers within 12 months.
• Launch a public awareness campaign within three months to increase Healthy Start uptake, modelled on Scotland's approach; publish annual uptake data with granular geographical detail.
• Develop a holistic advertising regulation bringing brand and range advertising into scope; ban outdoor advertising of high fat, salt and sugar foods; extend restrictions to sports sponsorship, online gaming, and social media to better protect children.
• Support local authorities to encourage healthier high streets through improved planning policy and retail environment changes.

Key actors

Layla Moran (Chair, Health and Social Care Committee), Natasha Burgon (Director of Health Improvement, DHSC), Anna Taylor (Chief Executive, The Food Foundation), Lauren Bowes Byatt (Deputy Director, Healthy Life Mission, Nesta), Sharon Hodgson MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention), Beth Fowler (Senior Manager, Healthy and Sustainable Choices, Asda), Nilani Sritharan (Head of Healthy and Sustainable Diets, Sainsbury's)