Recipe Analysis

12-Month Countdown to HFSS Volume Price Restrictions: What You Need to Know

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The Food (promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 came into force 1 October 2022 with the first part restricting less healthy (HFSS) products by location, both online and in store.   The next step will see restrictions on volume price promotions from 1 October 2025. This includes ‘buy one get one free’ and multibuy promotions.

Why is this important?

There is evidence to support the highly effective influences price promotions have on food preferences and purchases.  Reducing such promotions for less healthy foods – or increasing the promotions on healthier foods is an essential step to reducing sugar and calorie intake in children and to help tackle obesity.

The location of products within stores significantly affects what we buy and retail environments do not always align with current healthy eating guidelines.  This next stage in the regulation aims to significantly improve the food environment and make healthier food more easily accessible.

Food and drinks that are in scope of the regulations will fall into one of the 13 categories listed in schedule 1 and will score as being ‘less healthy’ according to the nutrient profiling model (NPM) calculations.  Retailers will be expected to check the scores for all relevant products and manufacturers are also being asked to provide this data through platforms such as NielsenIQ Brandbank.

HFSS rules and product development opportunities!

With restrictions already in place and more on the horizon, including plans for the Welsh government and Scottish government to implement restrictions in future, companies who develop products that are both tasty and healthy are likely to have a competitive advantage.  Fat, sugar and salt all have their roles in affecting taste, texture and shelf-life of products and so reformulating should not compromise any of these.  Additional ways to improve the nutrient profile is to increase fibre and fruit, vegetables or nuts whilst still reducing the saturated fat, salt and sugar content.  Successful reformulation takes time and technical expertise, but there are resources available to help you, for example – take a look at the Food & Drink Federation Reformulation Support Toolkit!

 

AB Food Nutrition has over 15 years experience in calculating HFSS scores for foods and drinks and working with product developers to identify ways to improve the nutrient profile of recipes and formulations. If you need help calculating Nutrient Profiling Scores for your products, or if you need more information about HFSS regulatory requirements, please contact Anne.

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Will calorie counts on menus make us healthier?

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Around two-thirds of adults in the UK are either overweight or obese – and this increases the risk of chronic health conditions including type 2 diabetes.  Nowadays, a significant proportion of the food people eat is consumed outside of the home.  People are also eating out more often – the UK population consumes more than 100 million takeaways and ready-made meals in a week1!  Evidence suggests that people dining out consume 200 more calories per day than when eating at home2 and so it is clear that there needs to be a mechanism to reduce the amount people consume when eating out if current obesity rates are to be halted and reversed.

As part of the government’s childhood obesity plan for action, the whole food industry (restaurants, retailers and manufacturers) has been challenged to slash calories in foods by 20% by 2024 but this alone will not tackle the complex issue of obesity.  Interestingly, 79% of people agree that menus should include the number of calories in food and drinks3.  Although many businesses already provide nutritional information on their websites only a few provide calorie labelling at the point of choice.  The point of choice can include menu boards, printed menus, chalk boards or display tags. So, with this in mind, the government proposes to introduce legislation to mandate consistent calorie labelling in England for the out of home sector.

Calorie menu labelling has already been mandatory in Ireland for a couple of years. A study into the effect of this in a hospital staff/visitor canteen found that customers made healthier choices and fewer calories were purchased, particularly by males4.

Putting calories on your menus is a public health initiative that can even benefit your business.  A recent Diabetes UK poll found that 60% of people are more likely to spend their money in an eating establishment that provides traffic light labelling, and almost as many said they would be more likely to eat where there is calorie labelling on food menus/packaging5.

Displaying the amount of calories on food and drinks for sale however is a form of food labelling and the most important rule of food labelling is that the consumer must not be misled.  It is therefore important for food businesses to have clear procedures and methods in place to ensure that calorie information is kept accurate.  If ingredients in a menu item change, the calorie information should be updated as soon as possible.

Obtaining the calorie values for all your menu items might seem a daunting task at first, but with help from AB Food Nutrition this can be done quickly, easily and cost-effectively.  We calculate the nutrient profile of your recipes based on the ingredients, quantities and cooking methods used. We can even provide suggestions on how to improve the nutritional profile of your recipes so that you can offer customers healthier choices.  For more information, please contact Anne.

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1 https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/a_weighty_issue.pdf
2 Nguyen and Powell. (2014). The impact of restaurant composition among US adults: effects on energy and nutrient intakes. Public Health Nutrition 17(11) 2445-52.
3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/calorie-reduction-the-scope-and-ambition-for-action
4 Calories on menus in Ireland – who’s counting? – Volume 74 Issue OCE4 – G.D. Ussher, S.E. Kielthy, K.A. Emerson, F.E. Douglas, O.C. Lyons, M.A.T. Flynn
5 https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/poll-food-labels-influence-spending?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=foodupfront&utm_term=210518&utm_content=organic

Sugar Reduction Progress Report

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Public Health England (PHE) published the first assessment of progress towards the government’s sugar reduction programme this week – the challenge of which was a 5% reduction in the first year compared to the 2015 baseline.

Across 8 of the 10 categories (excluding cakes & morning goods due to data collection limitations) retailers/manufacturers achieved a 2% reduction in total sugar and a 2% reduction in calories in products consumed on a single occasion.

Whilst this doesn’t meet the 5% ambition, it is recognised that there are more sugar reduction plans in the pipeline and also some changes took effect after the first year cut-off point.

 

There have been reductions in sugar across 5 categories; breakfast cereals, ice cream/lollies/sorbets, sweet spreads & sauces, sweet confectionery, yogurt & fromage frais

Yogurts & fromage frais, breakfast cereals, sweet spreads & sauces all met or exceeded the 5% sugar reduction ambition

Calories in products consumed on a single occasion have been reduced in 4 categories (Biscuits, chocolate confectionery, Ice cream/lollies/sorbet, yogurts & fromage frais) by reducing the portion size.

Sugar levels are generally the same across all sectors however for out of home sector, portion sizes likely to be consumed in one go are on average double those of retailers and manufacturers

 

The progress report shows that there is more work still to be done and organisations such as the British Dietetic Association have expressed initial disappointment at the lack of progress made.  Some manufacturers and retailers appear to have made very significant progress where others have made very little, if any!

Products not meeting the 5% target include biscuits, ice cream, confectionery and puddings which is no surprise, as sugar has functions in these foods other than just providing a sweet taste.  Finding alternatives that do not impact on texture or appearance will take time as new technologies are developed.

PHE has also published new guidelines for the drinks industry to reduce the amount of sugar children consume through juice and milk based drinks by mid-2021:

reduce sugar in juice based drinks (excluding single juice) by 5%

cap all juice based drinks (including blended juices, smoothies and single juices) likely to be consumed in one go to 150 calories

reduce sugar in milk (and milk substitutes) based drinks by 20% and cap products likely to be consumed in one go to 300 calories

 

The exemption of milk based drinks from the sugar levy will be reviewed by the treasury in 2020. Progress on drinks covered by the levy shows that in response, sugar has been reduced by 11% and calories per portion by 6%.  Data shows more drinks below the 5g/100g cut-off are being purchased.

As part of the wider reformulation programme. PHE have also announced:

Guidelines for foods included in the calorie reduction programme are to be published mid-2019

Progress towards the 2017 salt targets is to be assessed and published by end 2018, followed by consideration of the next stage of the programme

Product ranges targeted at babies & young children are to be considered

Engagement with the out of home sector to move forward with reformulation

The next progress report on sugar reduction is due spring 2019.  In the meantime, it is as important as ever that the industry continues to work on reducing sugar in top selling products by reformulating or reducing portion sizes.

AB Food Nutrition works with manufacturers to provide nutrient composition values of their products for labelling and also during product development or reformulation. We can work with you to assess the impact recipe changes will have on nutritional content as well as advising on ways to achieve a desired nutritional profile such as a 5% or 20% sugar reduction as well asa reduction in calories. Contact Anne for further information about our nutrition and labelling services.

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The calorie reduction programme

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This week, Public Health England (PHE) published plans to cut excessive calorie intakes by challenging the food industry to reduce calories by 20% in categories that contribute significantly to children’s calorie intakes by 2024. The programme involves retailers, manufacturers and the out-of-home sector following on from work launched last year to reduce sugars.

Products covered include:

It does not cover foods included in the sugar reduction programme.

Reducing calories in these everyday foods will have the ability to benefit the whole population and it has been estimated that a 20% reduction in calories over five years could prevent 35,000 premature deaths, save the NHS £4.5 billion in healthcare costs over 25 years.

PHE will set specific product category guidance to be published mid-2019 (using sales weighted average approach to focus on top selling products), however businesses are encouraged to start work now to reduce calorie content of everyday foods.  The year ending August 2017 will be the baseline against which progress will be measured (first progress report March 2021).

Reformulation or reducing portion sizes will be the main focus for the food industry however shifting consumer purchasing towards lower calories options is an additional mechanism for action.

Alongside this work, PHE are launching the ‘Know your numbers’ campaign which provides a rule of thumb for the calories to eat at each main meal to help consumers be more aware of the calories they consume when eating out.

AB Food Nutrition works with manufacturers and caterers to provide nutrient composition values of their products for labelling & menu boards and also during product development or reformulation. We can work with you to assess the impact recipe changes will have on nutritional content as well as advising on ways to achieve a desired nutritional profile such as reducing calories, whilst advising on which permitted nutrition or health claims you can use in product marketing.  Contact Anne for further information about our nutrition and labelling services.

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Industry reformulation & nutrition guidance

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There has never been more of a focus or pressure on food manufacturers to reformulate products in a bid to improve the nutritional content of products.  The good news is that UK shoppers don’t mind their favourite products being reformulated – just so long as they taste as good!  So are you ready to rise to the challenge?

Whether this is reducing sugar, salt or saturated fat or even enriching foods with the nutrients that we need to consume more of – you might find the collection of case studies from the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) a good source of inspiration and ideas.  Here are some of the reformulation highlights:

 

  • ASDA reduced sugar in the base dough recipe of their donuts by 50% without any technical issues.  They also reduced salt in sour cream & onion party bites by simply adding a crisp without added salt to the mix.
  • Premier Foods adopted a ‘health by stealth’ approach by making gradual changes to the sugar content of their popular Mr Kipling Viennese Whirls.
  • Reducing sugar by 33% and salt by 21% in Musgrave cooking sauces took Greencore 8 months to achieve by boosting the tomato and vegetable content.  This required new ingredients to be sourced and new procedures creating.  A similar approach was taken by Mars Food for Dolmio sauces.
  • It took 12 months for Tesco to reformulate honey & mustard chicken pasta due to technical issues with creating a lower fat dressing that doesn’t split when honey is an ingredient.  Tesco also identified that mayonnaise and butter were common ingredients in sandwiches so they replaced this with a reduced fat mayonnaise and also removed the butter.
  • Dairy Crest worked for 2 years to produce a high quality lower fat mature cheese.
  • M&S enriched their loaves and rolls with fibre and used a type of yeast that produces vitamin D.  Clear front of pack labelling was also a significant element as customers find positive messages more motivating.

  • Greggs launched a new ‘Balanced Choice’ range consisting of products <400 calories and with no red colour coded nutrients.  They also reformulated some traditional favourites by replacing puff pastry with shortcrust and developing lower fat fillings.
  • Tesco reformulated trifles taking several years to achieve a multi-component nutrient reduction.  This not only resulted in a healthier product, but the cream had a fresher & cleaner taste and organoleptic properties were improved at end of shelf life.
  • Sainsbury’s made a simple swap from whole milk to semi skimmed in drinks served from in store cafes resulting in significant reductions in both calories and fat.  They also provide the nutritional composition of their products on menu boards to help customers make informed choices.
  • Co-op worked collaboratively with one of their suppliers – Tulip, using a solution called IPOSOL in order to achieve a 30% reduction in salt in gammon.
  • Morrisons removed sugar from extruded breakfast cereals by replacing it with a bulking carbohydrate that did not increase calories.  The ratio of cereal types was altered to boost fibre content and improve texture.

Another new resource that will be of particular interest if your are a catering manager or chef is the Nutrition guide from the British Hospitality Association.  This go-to guide is full of useful information about how to provide healthier options and the legal obligations that must be complied with.

The guidance helps caterers to design healthier menus including those specifically aimed at children or for those with allergies.  Packed with ideas on how to maximise the use of fruit and veg, purchasing tips, food preparation techniques to preserve nutrients and ways to remove/reduce/replace fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, it even advises on ways to promote your new menu and ensure that you are making legally compliant nutrition and health claims.

 

Whilst the reasons for formulating products are varied it’s clear that consumers and external influences are big a stimulus for healthier reformulation.

 

AB Food Nutrition works with manufacturers to provide nutrient composition values of their products for labelling or menu boards and also during product development or reformulation. We can work with you to assess the impact recipe changes will have on nutritional content as well as advising on ways to achieve a desired nutritional profile such as reducing fat, sugar or salt including advice on which nutrition or health claims you can use in product marketing.  Contact Anne for further information about our nutrition and labelling services.

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