The BNF report, ‘Beyond Ultra-Processed Foods: A Review of Evidence-Based Interventions for the UK Food Environment’ outlines several interventions that it would like to see implemented across retail, manufacturing and OOH.
The aim is to improve the UK’s food environment, with the BNF pointing out that its ‘shape’ - i.e. better access and availability to healthier foods - has the potential to incite powerful change.
Its publication arrives at a pivotal juncture, marked by tightening regulation and the expanding use of weight loss drugs.
With the UK in the grip of an obesity crisis and less than 1% of the population adhering to all nine recommendations within the Eatwell Guide, the foundation believes now is the time for a renewed focus that moves beyond ongoing UPF debates.
Structural change is needed
In an online summit held earlier today that coincided with the report’s launch, Dr Stacey Lockyer, senior nutrition scientist at the BNF, explained that structural interventions can deliver change without relying on individual motivation.
“The food environment can be defined as the physical, economic, political and socio-cultural context in which food choices occur,” she told viewers.
“In the UK, there are areas that can be described as ‘food deserts’ and ‘food swamps’.”
In other words, there are pockets of the country that lack sufficient access to food and/or are overwhelmed by unhealthy food offerings.
“We see that there’s a greater density of takeaways in areas of deprivation,” she continued.
“The good news is that more favourable food environments can help drive healthier choices through pricing, placement, availability and marketing.”
Pricing power
Efforts to improve the UK’s diet and health through voluntary measures have had limited success. As such, the Government has begun to move to mandatory approaches, including HFSS.
And according to Victoria Jenneson, a research fellow at the University Leeds specialising in public health nutrition and retail big data, the data shows this kind of action works; with price promotions having the greatest power over people’s purchasing decisions.
Citing research conducted by the university following the introduction of the HFSS rules in 2022, they found there were around 220,000 fewer tons of in-scope HFSS products sold over a year and around two million fewer items sold per day.
Further studies conducted by the university in collaboration with Sainsbury’s also demonstrated the power of pricing interventions.
In a trial targeted at low-income shoppers, customers received a £2 voucher for fruit and veg, while selected fruit and veg were to discounted to 60p.
The outcome: basket proportion of fruit and vegetables increased, while discretionary foods decreased.
“We often hear the argument that if you give people more money, they’ll just spend it on the wrong things. But that’s absolutely not what we saw. They weren’t spending that extra £2 elsewhere," Jenneson explained.
“Pricing, placement, reformulation and healthier defaults are among the most effective tools available to industry, particularly when used in combination,” agreed Lockyer.
Although she noted the “specific interventions that will be most appropriate for any business to implement will depend on nature of their offering and their customer base”.
What can manufacturers do?
The BNF highlights ‘immediate and practical’ opportunities for different parts of the industry; for manufacturers these are as follows:
- Reformulation continues to offer population-level impact, particularly where it does not rely on consumer behaviour change
- Evidence suggests mandatory and fiscal levers drive faster progress than voluntary approaches
- Increasing focus on positive nutrition (fibre, pulses, fruit and vegetables) alongside nutrient reduction
Representing the voice of the manufacturers, Kate Halliwell chief scientific officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), agreed that reformulation works - but only under the right conditions.
Reformulation takes time, people, factory resource and money - and when regulatory benchmarks shift too quickly, it can really damage confidence to invest.
Katie Halliwell chief scientific officer, FDF
The industry needs clear, detailed targets, long timelines, stable regulation and a strong evidence base, she pointed out; no doubt referencing the several U-turns and complex level of change we’ve recently seen.
She outlined several examples of positive change from the sector, noting that it continues to focus on science-backed, established nutrition metrics whilst we wait for concrete evidence of UPFs.
Key actions
Overall, the report calls for stronger alignment between commercial strategy and public health goals across the various food actors.
BNF are encouraging businesses across the three sectors to:
- Embed nutrition within governance and decision-making frameworks
- Accelerate reformulation and portion size strategies beyond current targets
- Improve accessibility and affordability of healthier options
- Support consistent and transparent front-of-pack labelling approaches
- Leverage digital platforms as a core tool for influencing purchasing behaviour
