Stepping up to the Plate

FDF is pleased to be a signatory of the Public Health Responsibility Deal and to work in partnership with the Secretary of State and other stakeholders.

As this report highlights, members of the Food and Drink Federation have long been 'stepping up to the plate' when it comes to the many different ways in which they have taken bold action in response to growing societal concerns about complex public health issues such as obesity.

Our members take their responsibilities seriously. They are well aware of the complex diet, lifestyle and health challenges facing society, and understand the high expectations that policy makers, regulators and campaigners have of the entire food industry.

In fact, FDF first launched a sector-wide health and wellbeing manifesto as far back as 2004 – setting out a clear action plan for food and drink manufacturers. And in 2006 FDF established a Steering Group specifically to help drive forward our sector's work on health and wellbeing.

One of the areas in which the UK is now recognised as leading the world is reformulation, product renovation and new product development.

In 2009 FDF published 'Recipe for Change' showcasing the work of our members to reformulate their products, and the considerable challenges faced by companies in reformulating their brands without making any compromises on taste, quality or price. Importantly, this report also correctly predicted that there would be no 'health crunch' – companies would not stop focusing on the importance of developing healthier products, despite the recession and hugely competitive market conditions that prevailed through 2009 and 2010.

To try and better understand the impact of our members' ongoing work around reformulation, renovation and product innovation, we asked Kantar Worldwide to look at nutrition information for approximately 28,000 branded products made by FDF members.

The data shows that on salt, for instance, members have collectively reduced the amount in their foods by 9% across the board to an average of 0.31g per 100g of product in the past five years.

The amount of saturated fat in our products has similarly declined by 9% over that period. These achievements of course stand on top of the progress made by industry before 2006 – and many individual categories of food have made even more progress than this average figure.

But at an overall industry level, this new data shows that the progress made in the last five years is genuinely impressive. That 9% average reduction on saturated fat – for instance – equates to around 3,000 tonnes less saturated fat being put in shoppers' trolleys today compared with five years ago, despite significantly higher volumes sold through the major retailers.

Our sector has also shown real leadership on public health in other areas.

Clearer on-pack nutrition labelling will not, by itself, tackle issues such as obesity. But it is an important tool in helping improve the food literacy of consumers so that they can make better informed choices – which is why FDF and its members support the use of Guideline Daily Amounts as the best way of presenting factual information to consumers.

The UK is way ahead of most other European countries in terms of the quality of information given to consumers on both the front and back of packs. The key thing for industry now is what happens next in Europe, where the EU institutions are still negotiating the Food Information Regulation that sets the legal framework for what we can – and cannot do – in respect of nutrition information in future.

In the meantime, two issues remain: how do we get more UK consumers to use the labelling that is out there? And how do we improve the quality of nutrition information available in catering settings – something that FDF supports, while recognising that it is not without diffi culties.

One of the areas that we are pleased to see race up the policy agenda is the importance of companies and Government taking more responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their employees. Companies in our sector have been developing workplace wellbeing schemes that go way beyond the traditional health and safety agenda.

We are delighted that our calls for this to be an integral part of any public health strategy have been heeded – and FDF members are already helping Government to bring that ambition to life as part of its Responsibility Deal for Public Health.

The development of this Responsibility Deal is an exciting development – one that signals some important changes in how Government plans to approach the complex public health challenges it faces and how it engages with a wide range of interested stakeholders, including industry.

FDF and its members are keen to play a full part in the development of the Responsibility Deal and indeed our sector clearly has a key role to play – and a responsibility to respond – across a number of the areas outlined in the Responsibility Deal.

But it is not going to be easy: we are being challenged hard to show that the Government is right in its belief that the Responsibility Deal process can deliver more than was achieved through the quasiregulatory processes put in place by the previous administration.

And on many issues much has already been achieved – as this report demonstrates – so we are seeking to build further progress on top of that. It's a new way of working for all of us. The process itself is very different. But the issues are clearly not going away. So the principle of everyone working together in partnership to deliver a range of solutions and initiatives that will help our consumers to lead healthier lives has got to be a better way of operating than the sometimes adversarial relationships of old.

That's why FDF and its members are committed to engaging fully, positively and proactively in the discussions with the Government.