Aim is to restrict sales and advertising of unhealthy food and redirect diets towards healthier options
The government has opened a public consultation on applying the new nutrient profiling model (NPM) to advertising and promotions restrictions.
The aim of the new NPM is to make it easier for parents to provide their children with a better diet by way of a new model to assess the healthiness of food and drink.
Food and drinks identified as ‘less healthy’ by the government’s updated NPM would be restricted from being placed in certain locations in stores, and from volume price offers that encourage over-purchasing such as get three for the price of two. They would also be subject to advertising restrictions on TV before 9pm and online at any time, with all the changes subject to consultation.
The previous model is more than 20 years old and does not reflect modern dietary advice, the Department of Health (DoH) said.
Applying the new NPM to junk food advertising and volume price restrictions could lead to 110,000 fewer cases of childhood obesity and up to 520,000 fewer cases of adult obesity in the long term, the government claimed.
Analysing nutrient balance
The new model, based on the latest dietary recommendations, looks at the healthiness of food and drinks based on their balance of nutrients – calories, salt, saturated fat, protein and fibre – and also free sugars, which are added to products or released during food processing.
Adopting the new model will mean some products often marketed as healthier but which contain hidden sugars or are high calorie and are often a driver of childhood obesity – such as certain sweetened cereals and fruit yoghurts – could be in scope of the restrictions.
The DoH said this will strengthen the impact of the existing restrictions, give parents a far clearer picture about what they are buying, and encourage industry to reformulate so food marketed at children is healthier.
Health minister Sharon Hodgson said: ”With more than one in three children aged 10 to 11 overweight or obese, we need to support parents to make the right choices for their children. That means full transparency on what’s in the food marketed at their kids and supporting the food industry to promote healthy choices over junk food.
”This consultation is about strengthening protections for children, cutting hidden sugars, and making sure the rules are based on the best and latest evidence.
”It’s not about telling people what to eat – it’s about stopping families from being misled. We’re determined to reduce the child obesity epidemic and help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever.”
Some products have already been adapted to make them healthier, the government noted. These include reductions in sugar in soft drinks of 47 per cent due to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, as well as businesses reducing the levels of sugar in breakfast cereals by around 15 per cent and yoghurts by over 13 per cent.
Reductions in salt levels of up to 20 per cent have also been made. Applying the model will incentivise industry to improve the healthiness of the foods sold to consumers further.
The change to the new model will also provide greater clarity for parents as to what foods are healthier when making decisions on food and drink for their children, DoH said.
The new model aligns to dietary recommendations on free sugars, with children currently consuming double the recommended amount. High consumption of free sugars is directly associated with poor health outcomes and can often be found in food and drinks marketed as healthier than they actually are.
