With nearly three weeks of endurance eating and drinking yet to come before we all go cold turkey in January, it’s daunting to see the attacks on the food and drink industry and its contribution towards obesity are already in full swing.

Today, London Mayor Boris Johnson swung his considerable weight behind calls for a tax on sugary drinks, after new figures claimed the introduction could save boroughs nearly £40m in costs to the NHS and prevent thousands of cases of cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes, just in the capital.

This attack on sugar from the Mayor’s office and the Children’s Food Campaign came with Consensus, Action on Salt and Health (CASH) poised to reveal its latest dossier, this time on the salt levels in pizza.

Leaving aside any argument over the scientific rigour of these studies, two things are for sure.

First, the odds of pizza making it onto the five a day list now look about as good as QPR winning the Premier League. Second, groups like this and others besides, have plenty more to come. We should expect no less than a huge onslaught against quarters of the industry in the weeks that follow.

In the face of this, there are serious questions to be asked by food and drink companies which can ill-afford the sort of one way drubbing they suffered at the hands of the health lobby - and the press - during the same period a year ago, one which for some has already started to have a big impact on sales.

With the general election looming, it’s not just the political parties, but companies in different sectors in the market who will be making big decisions about how to set their stall out.

After nearly four years the Responsibility Deal looks all but washed up. One senior industry source insists it will “die with the current government” and a survey by Populus, revealed by The Grocer last week, showed that regardless of which party wins the election, stricter regulation is almost certainly on the cards, even if the new regime continues with a mainly voluntary approach.

Whether this includes a sugar tax, with both the Conservatives (despite Boris) and Labour having previously ruled it out, remains to be seen, but with the DH’s experts already recommending the daily recommended level of sugar intake is slashed in half in the UK, it’s hard to see any way that could be done without some seriously bad medicine for some product sectors.

So while they enjoy the festive respite - what little of it there may be - the bosses of many a company will be busy planning their fight back.

In 2015, this will not just be a question for fizzy drinks manufacturers, but also fruit and smoothie companies, cheese companies, confectionery suppliers, ready meal manufacturers, pizza suppliers… the list goes on.

Anyone in the firing line of the obesity debate has to be ready to put their heads above the parapet and, more importantly, have the confidence they have the ammunition to fight back.

From continuing with reformulation, to doing a better job of explaining the health properties in a balanced diet of those products on the shelves (even if they do have bad elements too), to challenging the evidence produced when it does not stand up to close attention, the food industry has to up its game in the health debate.

It’s been a difficult period for organisations like the FDF, which as well as being hit by several  high profile changes of personnel, has found it difficult to stand up for such a wide umbrella a group of companies and sectors.

But whether it is through a trade organisation, or in less formal coalitions, it’s vital food and drink companies don’t allow a one-sided argument to develop again as we move into 2015.

There are times when the industry sadly is guilty as charged when it comes to the criticisms it faces, but there are also many when its opponents are guilty of generating extremely dubious headlines, which do nothing to better the nation’s health, but merely pave the way for fear and confusion.

One sure way to allow that to continue is if they are met by a deafening wall of silence.

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