Scottish firms awarded funding to make healthier recipes
Over a dozen well-known Scottish bakery businesses have been given funding to make their products healthier.
FDF members have been voluntarily lowering fat, salt and sugars in recipes for decades. Companies also provide a range of portion sizes and resealable packaging options, along with clear, consistent nutrition information.
FDF member products now contribute 13% less calories, 15% less sugars and 24% less salt into the average shopping basket compared to 8 years ago1.
Innovating for healthier diets is not only about what we need to cut down – but also what should be increased. For example, we know that most people do not eat enough fibre. Industry recognises this gap and in 2021 launched ‘Action on Fibre’ to help bridge the gap between fibre intakes and the dietary recommendation.
Reformulation is technically challenging, costly and time consuming. A stable regulatory environment is needed so companies have the confidence to invest. The FDF works closely with government to inform reformulation policy and supports smaller businesses with guidance. FDF Scotland is proud to deliver Reformulation for Health, a Scottish Government funded programme to support smaller businesses to make their products healthier.
1. Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF members, total nutrient volumes in 2022 vs 2015
Case Study: Innovation for healthier diets case studies
Food and drink manufacturers are dedicated to playing their part to improve the nation’s health. Companies continue to take bold steps to provide healthier options for our much-loved brands by changing recipes, creating new healthier products, and adjusting portion sizes.
Find out moreUpdates
Action on Fibre - First year progress
The FDF are pleased to launch the first year results from the Action on Fibre initiative. Since the launch of the initiative, the Action on Fibre signatories have been working hard and these results show the great progress they have made, helping to bridge the gap. A big thank you to the companies involved in this initiative and congratulations on the great results achieved!
Through new products and reformulating existing products, Action on Fibre Signatories have delivered 7.2 billion more servings of fibre to the population. That’s the equivalent to around 5.5 billion bowls of bran flakes or 7.8 billion slices of wholemeal bread. This has had a demonstrable impact Kantar Worldpanel data shows a 2% increase in fibre content of products purchased by consumers from participating brands. This is almost four times the growth in fibre of products purchased by consumers from the total food and drink market.
UK food and drink manufacturers driving change to support the health of the nation
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), has released new data from Kantar Worldpanel showing that FDF member products contribute 13% fewer calories, 15% fewer sugars and 24% less salt to the average shopping basket than they did eight years ago[1].
The data shows that the average UK shopping basket has become healthier within recent years[2] and that the FDF's largest companies have managed to achieve improvements on nutrition which are around four times that of smaller companies [3]. This demonstrates that more support is needed to help smaller businesses reformulate.
More information can be found in the press release.
The new data has been featured by the following media:
[1] Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF members, total nutrient volumes in 2022 vs 2015
[2] There has been a 9% reduction in the overall Nutrient Profile Model score for the total food and drink market since 2018 - Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for Total Food and Drink market, Nutrient Profile Model Score 2022 vs 2018
[3] FDF’s largest companies have on average reduced the Nutrient profile Model score of their products by 11%, which is nearly four times the reduction achieved by our wider membership - Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF President’s committee members, Nutrient Profile Model Score 2022 vs 2018
Fibre February 2023
For this years Fibre February the FDF hosted a webinar focusing on the importance of reformulation, innovation and targeted initiatives to help bridge the fibre gap in lower socioeconomic groups.
Speakers from academia spoke about how industry and academics can co-design interventions to effectively increase fibre intakes in low-socio-economic status populations. Industry experts gave great case studies on some of the work they have done to help bridge the fibre gap in lower socio-economic status population.
Innovation for healthier diets guidance
To support businesses on reformulation FDF has created guidance:
- FDF Spotlight on sugar reformulation guidance
- FDF Sugars reduction in puddings guidance
- FDF Sugars reduction in Chocolate confectionery guidance
FDF Scotland delivers Reformulation for Health, a Scottish Government funded programme to support smaller businesses to make their products healthier. They have produced a raft of tools available in their reformulation support toolkit. Including:
Additional guidance from stakeholders can be found here:
News
Innovation fund drives healthier products
Eight collaborations between businesses and universities in Scotland have been awarded £75K to make healthier products.
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Related topics
Action on Fibre
Our members have pledged to take Action on Fibre and help bridge the gap between fibre intakes and the dietary recommendation.
Calorie reduction
FDF members are committed to working alongside government as it develops calorie reduction guidelines. Compared to 8 years ago, FDF member products provide 13% fewer calories into the average shopping basket.
Nutrient profiling
In the UK, a nutrient profiling model is used to define products high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS), to determine what can or cannot be advertised to children on TV, internet, outdoor spaces and in print media.
Report: Celebrating Food and Nutrition Report 2023
11 September 2023
The FDF and our members are committed to developing healthier products and have made substantial progress to date. This is not straightforward but is one of the most important measures food producers can take to improve the nations' health.
Read more