The woefully lacking response to The House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee’s October 2024 report – Recipe for Health: A Plan to Fix our Broken Food System – leaves us as parents, our children and, quite frankly, everyone in the UK, high and dry.
Despite the government acknowledging that we are in the middle of a childhood obesity crisis with diabetes and nutrition related health problems on the rise, they are just not prepared to tackle the elephant in the room: overly simplistic nutrition labelling that masks all sorts of ultra-processed food with artificial ingredients that no longer resembles real food.
It’s a classic case of government taking a short-term view. Their current advice is misleading, irresponsible and potentially dangerous information to share with parents of young children.
Minefield
As a parent searching for healthy snacking options, like many other parents who just want to do right by their kids, the children’s snacking aisle is a literal minefield. We’ve been buying into a host of seemingly healthy options promoting fruit and veg-led recipes, which on closer inspection of the ingredient labels tell a different story: fruit purees, concentrates, glucose syrup, modified starches, emulsifiers and bulking agents – you know the ones that you simply don’t recognise.
As it stands, highly processed children’s snack products can appear to be a ‘healthier’ choice to busy parents. It’s shocking to see that some confectionary, when compared to a high-fibre fruit-based snack, can appear to have a similar nutritional profile. The reality is that the NHS Smart Swaps App recommends that Freddie’s Farm Fruit Shapes made with only whole fruit and veg and a patented minimal processing method to reduce free sugars should be swapped out for an ultra-processed sugar-free confectionery Fruitella or Starburst.
Our minimally processed fruit and vegetable pulps are designed to help bridge the gap between nutrition and convenience, offering a genuine, wholefood, healthier snack option and guiding the nation towards a happier, healthier, and stronger future. While we acknowledge that fresh fruit and vegetables are the healthiest option, this is not always accessible, practical, or affordable.
Short-term thinking
As consumers, we’ve literally sleepwalked into an obesity crisis but it’s not our fault. The government has led us here, they are misleading us, and they plan to keep doing so.
The government must genuinely prioritise children’s health from the outset by focusing on whole foods and clean ingredients, rather than relying on a short-term tick-box exercise based on outdated and potentially conflicted research often funded by ‘Big Food’. The current system merely supports the narrative of major food producers, who are heavily involved in lobbying parliament to serve their own interests. This approach does nothing to address the obesity and health epidemic facing our nation, and most worryingly, our children.
The statistics speak for themselves. Toddlers in the UK obtain 47% of their calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and this rises to 59% by the age of seven, according to a study led by UCL. Spanish scientists have also followed dozens of young children and discovered that consuming a diet primarily made up of UPFs has impacted jaw development. These foods are typically soft and hyper-palatable, and they fail to stimulate the maxillofacial muscles and bones. This can lead to underdeveloped bone structures and increase the risk of malocclusion and respiratory problems.
In addition, diets which see such a high percentage of ultra processed food are far less likely to get children used to the natural flavours and textures of whole foods and therefore less likely to encourage healthy eating later in life. Which is why we are seeing the percentage of UPF in diets increase as children get older, in turn leading to health problems and obesity, as we are seeing in recently emerging research.
In a study funded by the Swedish Research Council published in December 2024, it was found that free sugars are associated with increased risk of seven different cardiovascular diseases, alongside the well documented links with obesity and diabetes.
Action needed
The nutritional traffic light labelling system and new HFSS targets can be too easily manipulated by ‘Big Food’ using ultra-processing methods, and chemical additives to promote a product that may not be as healthy as it seems. Products are being reformulated often using harmful ultra-processing methods and artificial ingredients in place of natural ones, in a bid to lower sugar content.
It’s plainly obvious that something needs to be done so we’re doing our bit for parents, but we need government to do their bit because, quite frankly, when it comes to the health of our children, enough is enough.
