Obesity

Food reformulation: government pressure to develop healthier products is paying off

Sugar and sodium cuts lead global reformulation

By Noli Dinkovski


More than 180,000 consumer goods were reformulated in 2016, with sugar and sodium the most targeted for removal by the food and drink industry, a global report has found.

Dairy does not contribute to obesity, The Dairy Council claimed

Dairy foods can ‘break the obesity cycle’

By Matt Atherton

Consuming milk, yogurt or cheese does not contribute to obesity, and the dairy sector is “too often targeted in public health campaigns tackling obesity”, The Dairy Council has claimed.

Public Health England challenged manufacturers to reduce their products' sugar content by 5% by August this year

Manufacturers set target to cut sugar 20% by 2020

By Matt Atherton

Public Health England (PHE) has targeted a 20% reduction in sugar in some everyday foods to reduce childhood obesity and the food and drink industry is “willing to take on the challenge”.

A ‘fat-busting’ microbe has been identified in healthy intestines that helps combat obesity

Food Vision

Nutrition advice questioned by gut microbe scientist

By Rick Pendrous

Conventional advice on maintaining health and avoiding obesity have been called into question by a leading expert on bacterial gut health – also known as the microbiome – who claimed that ensuring healthy bacteria in the lower intestines and colon has...

New healthy food guidance has been produced for schools

Schools get healthy food guidance

By Rick Pendrous

Local authorities (LAs) are being urged to improve the health credentials of food provided to schoolchildren and help reduce the obesity epidemic across the EU, in new guidance form the European Commission (EC).

Sugar replacer Avanté is claimed to replicate the functionality of sugar in savoury food

Starch sugar-replacer has no taste impact

By Noli Dinkovski

A new starch can reduce sugar content in savoury foods by up to 30% without impacting on quality, texture or taste, its maker has claimed.

Sugar cannot be replaced by a single ingredient, claims Bayn Europe

Natural sugar reduction range extended

By Noli Dinkovski

Food and drink manufacturers are now able to source a comprehensive range of sugar reduction additives from a single ingredients firm, after its leading range was extended to include new variants.

The sugar tax was victimising part of the food sector already lowering its sugar content, Watkins said

Business Leaders' Forum

Sugar tax is a ‘blunt instrument’ against obesity

By Matt Atherton

The sugar tax is a “blunt instrument” to tackle childhood obesity that “victimises” a sector already lowering sugar and calories in its products, according to law firm DWF.

Cereal makers are always looking for ways to reduce sugar, claims the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers

Cereal makers looking for sugar reduction plans

By Matt Atherton

Cereal manufacturers are trying to cut sugar, claims the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers (ACFM), after pressure groups claimed some breakfast cereals contained “shocking levels of sugar”.

More than 20% of children are overweight or obese when they start school

More regulation may be needed after the sugar tax

By Matt Atherton

More sugar regulation might be necessary after the introduction of the sugar levy in April 2018, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has claimed, after research showed that more than one-in-five children started school overweight...

Sugar-free soft drink alternatives should not be promoted as part of a healthy diet, the study claims

Sugar-free drink study slammed by scientists

By Noli Dinkovski

A study that suggests sugar-free and diet drinks play no role in helping people lose weight is unhelpful and ignores the evidence base, scientists and industry lobby groups claim.

What do millennials really think about the sugar tax? Watch this video to find out

Sugar tax

The sugar tax: what do millennials really think?

By Michael Stones

What do youngsters really think about the impact of the soft drinks levy, due to be introduced in 2018? After research published in The Lancet last week backed claims that the levy alone could not remedy Britain’s obesity epidemic, we look back at video...

Sugar reduction research and development is eligible for tax relief

Tax relief is available to aid research into sugar reduction

By Noli Dinkovski

Companies that plan to reformulate their products in the run up to the sugar tax and voluntary reduction targets are likely to be eligible for tax relief on research and development (R&D) costs, a specialist in the field has advised.

Obesity rates in reception age children has increased since 2014/2015

Child obesity rates continue to rise

By Noli Dinkovski

Childhood obesity levels are continuing to increase in the UK, with rates for children living in the most deprived areas more than double those living in affluent boroughs, a national survey has found.

Junk food advertising has been banned across all children's media

Children’s ‘junk food’ ad ban hailed by FDF

By Matt Atherton

The decision to ban ‘junk food’ advertising across all children’s media, in a bid to tackle childhood obesity, has been welcomed by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).

FDF president elect Gavin Darby set out top twin priorities for his presidency

FDF president elect Gavin Darby sets out priorities

By Michael Stones

The Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF’s) new president elect, Premier Foods’s ceo Gavin Darby, has named his top twin priorities as helping to remedy the nation’s obesity epidemic and ensuring the sector has a “strong plan” to thrive after Brexit.

New draft legislation for the UK sugar tax was slammed for being 'complex'. Image: Petr Kratochvil

‘Complex’ sugar tax draft slammed

By Gwen Ridler

Draft legislation for the Soft Drink Industry Levy has been described as “complex” and raises “serious questions” if a sugar tax would work, said law firm DWF.

Ultra-runners: those on a ketogenic diet have achieved the highest fat-burning rates ever recorded

Energy and endurance: the ketone kings

By Michelle Knott

A low-carbohydrate diet is usually associated with people trying to lose weight, but another group of carb-cutting enthusiasts is emerging.

J2O maker Britvic reported a profit rise of 10.3% in its full-year trading update

Sweet results for Britvic focusing on low sugar drinks

By Matt Atherton

Soft drinks firm Britvic reported a 10.1% rise in annual sales revenue to £1.43bn, boosted by growth in its no and low sugar drinks, as the manufacturer strived to reduce sugar content before the sugar tax is introduced in April 2018.

Kellogg and Nestlé defended themselves over claims its cereals were high in sugar

Cereal firms defend sugar and salt content levels

By Matt Atherton

Leading cereal manufacturers are striving to slash sugar and salt content, according to the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers (ACFM), after it was revealed that more than half of Kellogg’s and Nestlé’s UK breakfast cereals were high in sugar.

Williams: ‘Regrettably, some of the stories in the media do little to reduce public confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet’

British Nutrition Foundation targets myths in media

By Rick Pendrous

The widespread misunderstanding among huge swathes of the public about nutrition science has led the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) to embark on a programme of work to make this complex subject better understood and dispel many of the myths that are...

Rabobank: The end of the EU sugar production quota will not necessarily guarantee a low price

Consider longer-term sugar contracts: report

By Noli Dinkovski

Food and drink producers should consider longer-term sugar purchasing contracts, or switch to sweeteners, before the EU sugar quota ends in October 2017, a report has claimed.

The NHS's planned sugar tax for its hospitals could not be justified, according to BSDA boss

NHS sugar tax not ‘justified’: BSDA boss

By Gwen Ridler

National Health Service (NHS) plans to introduce a sugar soft drinks ban or tax in its hospitals could not be “justified”, according to British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) boss.

Tesco is to reduce the amount of sugar in all of its own-label soft drinks

Tesco reduces sugar in own-label drinks

By Gwen Ridler

Tesco is to reduce the sugar content in all of its own-label soft drinks in a bid to offer healthier choices to its customers, it claimed.

Gordon Wiseman, senior research associate with Premier Foods, receives the Food & Drink Scientist of the Year Award from Hardeep Singh Kohli

Premier Foods stands out at Food and Drink Federation awards

By Rick Pendrous

Premier Foods was the star of the show at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) awards last week (September 22), when it walked away with several prizes recognising its achievements in science, healthy reformulation and a campaign to help older people in...

Will a spoonful of sugar make the regulatory medicine go down?

‘Mary Poppins Act’ needed to reduce sugar intake

By Rick Pendrous

The UK will probably strengthen rules governing the front-of-pack nutrition labelling of food and drink packs – something it has been restricted from doing as part of the EU – rather than watering them down following the Brexit vote, a food labelling...

Children are eating twice as much sugar as their recommended daily allowance

Sugar intake in children is double daily allowance

By Matt Atherton

Children between the ages of four and 10 are consuming twice as much sugar as their recommended daily allowance, despite intake from sugar-sweetened soft drinks falling, according to Public Health England (PHE) figures.

Public Health England has recommended vitamin D supplements to compensate for lack of sunlight

Government guidelines propose vitamin D supplements in the diet

By Michelle Perrett

People in the UK need to consider dietary supplementation of the essential vitamin D in their diets to compensate for the absence of that produced in the body from exposure to sunlight during the months of October to March, according to new government...

A third of children are obese or overweight when they leave primary school

Obesity strategy is badly ‘flawed’ claim critics

By Rick Pendrous

The government’s much delayed childhood obesity strategy, published today (August 18) by the Department of Health, has received a mixed response from health lobby groups and the food industry alike, with neither side feeling it provides a truly holistic...

A coalition of businesses leaders, led by the BSDA, is campaigning to block the UK sugar tax on soft drinks

Coalition formed to block UK sugar tax

By Gwen Ridler

Business leaders in the food and drink industry have formed a coalition to oppose the UK soft drinks tax, following a report that claimed the tax would place 4,000 jobs at risk and wipe £132M from the economy.

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