Supermarkets told to cut 100 calories from shoppers' baskets in new anti-obesity drive

As part of a 10-year strategy to cut diet-related diseases, retailers and manufacturers in England will be subject to a new 'healthy food standard', according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The policy was initially developed by innovation agency Nesta, and introduces mandatory health targets for retailers.

However, retailers will also be given flexibility in how to meet the targets, such as by tweaking recipes, running price promotions on healthier items, or redesigning store layouts.

Supermarkets will be required to report sales data and those that fail to hit targets could face financial penalties, Nesta suggested.

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Nesta analysed 36 million supermarket transactions, finding an average shopping basket health score of 67 out of 100, and has set a target to raise this to 69.

Its modelling shows that raising the score by just two points would cut obesity by around a fifth over three years, helping more than three million people to achieve a healthier weight.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day – the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved.

“This government’s ambition for kids today is for them to be part of the healthiest generation of children ever. That is within our grasp. With the smart steps we’re taking today, we can give every child a healthy start to life.

“Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores healthier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.

He continued: "Through our new healthy food standard, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice, because prevention is better than cure.”

Supermarkets may have as many as four years until this comes into effect - the government aims to introduce mandatory reporting by the end of the current parliament in 2029, with the standard to be achieved some way into the next.

Supermarkets so far have voiced positive responses, with Ken Murphy, chief executive of Tesco, welcoming the announcement, and Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, calling it an “important and positive step forward in helping the nation to eat well”.

Speaking to LBC on Sunday, Professor Jane Ogden said: "I think that the state absolutely should have kind of say in some of the choices that we made.

"And I also think that we're being naive if we think that they don't already, you know, we're still, we're not already making free choices about how we live our lives.

"That's being governed through advertising, through social media, through the food industry, through packaging, through colouring, through the way that shops lay out their shelves."

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “This is a fair and evidence-based prescription for better health; big businesses urgently need the government to level the playing field to help them focus on selling products that help people live well.”

Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the new strategy will bring together "the health plan, food producers and retailers" to ensure the nation will be fed "more healthily", without financially hurting the food sector.

Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, added that the mandatory reporting will be a "game changer”, while Sonia Pombo, head of impact and research at Action on Salt, said responsibility will be shifted away from individuals and "toward a food system that truly supports healthier choices".