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