FDF members are working hard to reduce sugar in products. Great progress has been made in certain categories such as breakfast cereals, yogurts and soft drinks. Compared to 8 years ago, FDF member products provide 15% less sugars into the average shopping basket [1] .
However, the Government’s ambition to reduce sugar by 20% across multiple food categories in three years has never been realistic. There are certain products that remain challenging for manufacturers to reformulate and reduce the sugar content while keeping the flavour customers know and love. Reformulation takes time. The work is particularly challenging in foods where sugars play many roles beyond adding sweetness, for example they can prolong shelf-life, help cakes to rise, and change how ice crystals form in ice-cream. Where technical challenges or consumer acceptance limit progress, members are creating smaller portions and encouraging consumers to switch to lower-sugars alternatives, where possible.
To help companies, FDF has produced a sugar reformulation guidance, a list of sugars replacers and guidance if companies want to claim reduced sugar on pack.
[1] Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF members, total nutrient volumes in 2022 vs 2015
Updates
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
Revised year 3 PHE sugar reduction report
Diet and healthPHE has recently published a revision to the Year 3 progress report for the sugar reduction programme, which was originally published in October 2020. Since this publication, an error has been noted with some of the data for McDonald’s drinks, and this has resulted in slight differences to the previously reported results in out of home milkshakes, cup hot/cold drinks and blended juices. The revised Year 3 progress report can be observed through clicking the following link.
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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.
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