Sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme: interim review
Published 14 September 2017
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1. Scope
This progress report follows on from the publication in March 2017 of the first technical document relating to the sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme[footnote 1]: Sugar reduction: Achieving the 20%.
A separate report, detailing stakeholder engagement (that fed in to the development of the guidelines) was also published in March[footnote 2], as were the salt targets for 2017 that were originally part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal but now form part of PHE’s wider reformulation programme[footnote 3].
This report details the actions Public Health England (PHE) has taken since March, covering the period from April to September 2017. It also outlines the next steps for the upcoming 6 months (up to end of March 2018), covering:
- progress on sugar reduction since March 2017:
- developing the monitoring and reporting approach for sugar reduction
- product ranges targeted at babies and young children
- soft drinks
- engagement with businesses providing food consumed out of the home
- wider reformulation programe:
- calorie reduction programme
- salt
- saturated fat
Stakeholder engagement is included in each section of the report. A full table detailing the stakeholders we have met with over the last 6 months is included in Appendix 1.
This report does not contain any numerical assessment of the progress made by the food industry towards achieving the 20% reduction target or the category specific guidelines. A detailed progress report covering this will be published in March 2018.
2. Progress on sugar reduction since March 2017
The local and general elections in June 2017 limited public engagement and activity on the programme between April and June 2017.
2.1 Developing the monitoring and reporting approach for sugar reduction
The first detailed assessment of progress towards the 5% reduction, which is to have been achieved in the first year of the programme (up to August 2017), will be published in March 2018. PHE is developing the metrics and analyses that will be used to evaluate performance by all sectors of industry during this first year.
PHE expects the March 2018 report to include:
- the baseline metrics, previously published in the March 2017 technical report, replicated using data on volume sales and nutrient content of products for the year ending August 2017, to show how these have changed over the first year of the programme
- some additional analyses to look at progress by individual businesses and in high volume sales products that contribute significantly to total volume sales of sugar in each category by August 2017
- details of what has been done by businesses that took significant action to reduce sugar levels in their products prior to the 2015 baseline
PHE will be meeting all sectors of the industry and other relevant stakeholders to discuss these additional metrics in the autumn and winter.
As PHE is responsible for monitoring progress for products included in the soft drinks industry levy, we are also developing appropriate metrics and timings for this part of the programme.
PHE has established a framework of potential data providers to enable it to purchase data to use for monitoring. We are now in the process of finalising contracts for the data supply for the March 2018 progress report and will provide details of suppliers to stakeholders in due course.
2.2 Product ranges targeted at babies and young children
PHE is also considering the scope and timeline for future work on product ranges explicitly targeted at babies and young children.
3. Soft drinks
3.1 Soft drinks industry levy
The soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) will apply a levy to producers or importers of soft drinks that contain added sugars. It is set out in legislation contained within the Finance Act 2017. It is enforceable from April 2018 and is the responsibility of HM Treasury.
The levy has 2 rates:
- a lower rate of 18 pence per litre for drinks with a total sugar content between 5 to 8g per 100ml
- a higher rate of 24 pence per litre for drinks with total sugar more than 8g per 100ml
Secondary legislation is being developed for publication in the autumn, which will specify the precise definition of milk and other elements of the levy.
In England, revenues from the SDIL will go to support schools, including funding for programmes that promote physical activity and balanced diets in school-age children.
3.2 PHE activity on soft drinks
There are 2 main categories of drinks that are excluded from the levy:
- pure juices (fruit and vegetable juices with no added sugar)
- high milk content drinks (more than 75% milk)
Together with hot milk-based drinks (for example flavoured coffees), and syrups or powders used in or to make milk-based drinks, these drinks are now included as part of the PHE’s sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme.
HM Treasury is committed to reviewing the exemption for milk-based drinks from the SDIL in 2020, taking into account the progress made through voluntary reformulation, and will decide after completion of the review whether these products should become part of the levy.
PHE’s proposed structure for the programme of work on these drinks is similar to that used for the sugar reduction programme and will use data from 2015 as the baseline.
The current ambition for milk-based drinks is a 20% reduction by 2020. We will account for naturally occurring lactose in these products, as we did for yogurts previously. The overall ambition for pure juices is yet to be defined due to the significant challenges with reducing sugar levels in these products.
It will apply to businesses across all sectors of the food industry, including retailers, manufacturers and those businesses that provide the food that we buy and eat out of the home. Businesses should take action using the same mechanisms as those being implemented through the sugar reduction programme (reducing sugar levels, reducing portion size, shifting consumer purchasing towards lower or no added sugar products).
3.3 Stakeholder engagement on PHE’s drinks categories
In July 2017, PHE began engaging with stakeholders relevant to the juice and milk-based drinks categories that are included in the PHE reformulation programme. This involved holding 3 industry and wider stakeholder forums; one with trade associations and other representative bodies, followed by separate meetings on pure juices and milk-based drinks. The product-specific meetings involved the market leaders in each category as well as relevant non-government organisations, other government departments and the devolved administrations.
At these meetings a number of issues around reducing the sugar content of relevant drinks as well as implementing the other mechanisms for action were discussed. This included detail on achievements to date as well as what attendees believed the main opportunities and technical or acceptability challenges may be in terms of making future changes. A full note of the issues raised is included in Appendix 2.
PHE is in the process of holding additional meetings on request with individual businesses and organisations to increase understanding of the categories and other points discussed at the wider stakeholder fora.
3.4 Next steps on PHE’s drinks categories
PHE will hold 2 further category-specific meetings in October, one on milk-based drinks, and one on pure juices. These will discuss the proposed sugar reduction and portion size guidelines for each category, as appropriate. PHE will invite relevant stakeholders to attend from across all sectors of industry as well as non-government organisations and other government departments. Invitees will be asked to provide written comments on the proposals after these meetings and will also be offered the opportunity to have further discussions with individual businesses.
PHE expects to complete the engagement and technical work, and publish specific guidance for pure juices and milk based drinks, by the end of 2017.
PHE is also considering in more detail how it will undertake monitoring for this part of the programme, in terms of the metrics and analyses used as well as the timing for publication of progress reports.
4. Engagement with businesses providing food consumed out of the home
It is recognised that businesses that provide food for consumption outside the home have an integral role to play in dealing with and reducing childhood obesity. This is a complex and diverse section of the industry and spans many different interests and business models such as pubs, cafés and coffee shops, bakery-led stores, sandwich shops and casual dining restaurants.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improve engagement, PHE has focussed efforts and resources on targeting and engaging businesses in this sector. Since March 2017, PHE has carried out stakeholder mapping to identify the breadth of businesses within the eating out of home sector, with the aim of widening business engagement and helping to address the need for a level playing field across the food industry (together with retailers and manufacturers) to meet the 20% reduction target by 2020. The sector has been split into 13 sub-categories grouped by business model, to help identify common concerns specific to ways of working or methods of operation.
To date, PHE has completed the first phase of engagement meeting around 40 parent companies who have been involved with the sugar reduction work programme. The programme will continue to expand to target more businesses in 2017 to 2018.
Companies have been asked to supply nutrition data for all products that fall into the 9 categories of the sugar reduction programme to enable PHE to reflect the progress made by the eating out of home sector working towards the 20% sugar reduction ambition. Businesses have also been asked to supply nutrition data for fruit or vegetable juices and drinks containing more than 75% milk content, to feed into development of the forthcoming guidelines for these products.
The second phase of PHE engagement began in August and is expected to continue until 2018. Priority businesses are bakery-led stores and sandwich shops, quick service cafes, coffee shops and food service businesses.
By March 2018, it is our intention to have considered the next (third) phase of this work which will involve extending engagement to businesses that are particularly relevant to the forthcoming calorie reduction programme.
5. Wider reformulation programme
5.1 Calorie reduction programme
In August 2017, one year on from the launch of ‘Childhood obesity: a plan for action’[footnote 4], PHE was formally asked by government to commence work to scope how to reduce excess calorie consumption by children[footnote 5].
As was set out in the government’s plan, PHE is reviewing the evidence base around children’s calorie consumption and will also work towards setting the ambition for the programme.
Early work has included planning and commissioning analyses that will form the basis of the document detailing the evidence for the programme. PHE is undertaking some initial scoping and development around the ambition of the programme; as well as some initial analysis of the potential categories for inclusion in the programme. Some early discussions with the main relevant stakeholders on this may be held by December.
We intend to publish the evidence document and ambition for the programme in the first quarter of 2018. Following this, we will consult with all sectors of the food industry, trade bodies, health non-government organisations and other government departments to develop guidance and timelines for the calorie reduction programme. This will include a fuller engagement programme with industry and other stakeholders.
5.2 Salt
The salt targets were re-published by PHE in March 2017 and are due to be met by all sectors of industry by the end of 2017. PHE will consider further steps for this work in order to ensure continued action to reduce salt levels in foods and intakes. This could include securing greater commitment by all sectors of the food industry to achieve the existing targets. Our considerations will be informed by an assessment of industry’s progress towards achieving the 2017 targets; the timing for this has yet to be confirmed. A urinary sodium survey is currently being considered which will, subject to securing funding, provide updated figures on salt intakes.
5.3 Saturated fat
The government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) draft report on saturated fat is expected to be published in 2018 for public consultation. The finalised report will be used to review and inform our future work on saturated fat reduction.
6. Summary
This review sets out the work undertaken to date and the next steps PHE intends to take over the coming 6 months. Industry and wider stakeholder engagement will continue to form an important focus as we move towards setting guidelines for the drinks excluded from the soft drinks industry levy, in forming the ambition for the calorie reduction programme, and in considering the metrics and data that will be included in the assessment of progress on sugar reduction in March 2018.
Continuing and expanding discussions with businesses that provide the food that we buy and eat out of the home, including those that are new to the reformulation work, will help to ensure that PHE has a comprehensive approach and generates a level playing field across all sectors.
The next report will focus on the achievement of the 5% reduction in the first year of the sugar reduction programme. It will provide a detailed assessment of progress across categories as well as by businesses and in products. This will be published in March 2018.