Food firms make ‘significant’ reformulation progress

More than 320,000 products have been reformulated to reduce levels of sugar, salt and fat since the survey began in 2015, according to the CGF 2019 Health & Wellness Progress Report. Good progress had been made in all categories, and there was significant improvement in the attempt to achieve all of the CGF’s health and wellness commitments, it claimed.

Health and wellness policies​

The report revealed 98% of food companies were reformulating at least some part of their product portfolio to align with health and wellness policies. Over 70% of companies reported reformulating salt and sugar in their products. Meanwhile, 61% participated in food bank programmes – the equivalent of nearly 93,000t of food.

“We’ve come a long way since this survey began five years ago, but we are not finished yet and there is still much to do,”​ said CGF health and wellness director Sharon Bligh. “People are craving change, and we recognise our industry’s role in both preventing illness and in empowering people to live healthier lives”.​

This edition of the survey ends the CGF’s initial five-year strategy on health and wellness. The focus for the next five years will move to the flagship initiative ‘Collaboration for Healthier Lives’.