What’s in the new health green paper for food and drink?

The government this week published a new green paper aimed at tackling the obesity crisis. The timing, just hours before Boris Johnson was unveiled as new Tory leader, was slammed by industry leaders as a “needless distraction” given the threat of Brexit. But what is in the document, what could the policies mean for the industry and will the new PM actually go ahead with them?

Will ‘sin taxes’ be expanded or scrapped by Johnson?

The debate over so-called nanny state sugar taxes dominated this week’s release of the green paper, with critics accusing health secretary Matt Hancock of trying to bury proposals unpopular with his ally Boris Johnson.

In the run-up to his election, Johnson’s team issued a press release calling for a curb on what it dubbed ‘sin taxes’. The now PM promised to “launch a comprehensive review into the effectiveness of the ‘sin taxes’ - including products high in salt, fat or sugar”.

He also backed The Sun’s campaign against the sugar tax, attacked the “continuing creep of the nanny state” and said Brexit was a chance to bring in taxes based on “clear evidence”.

It was a different stance from his time as Mayor of London, when his advisers were among those most eagerly pestering ministers to bring in a tax on sugary drinks.

While the paper does credit the soft drinks levy for removing the equivalent of over 45,000 tonnes of sugar from the shelves, it simply re-announces what was in the original soft drinks levy proposals: that the government ‘may’ extend the levy to sugary milk drinks ‘if the evidence shows that industry has not made enough progress on reducing sugar’.

New salt targets set for 2020 - but no reporting for four years

Matt Hancock had previously promised “ambitious” new salt reduction goals by Easter this year, but campaigners demanding tougher action on salt will now have to wait until 2020 under the green paper.

That’s despite a report by Public Health England last year revealing nearly half the salt reduction targets for 2017 had been missed by the industry, with manufacturers hitting just 37% of them. 

The government says it will publish revised salt reduction targets next year, for the industry to achieve by mid-2023, but its first official reporting will not be until 2024, which has infuriated the health lobby.

“While we are pleased to finally see new salt reduction actions in the prevention green paper, we have concerns over the robustness of these proposed plans, which suggest that monitoring reports will not be released until 2024,” says Action on Salt chairman Professor Graham MacGregor. 

The delay in the new salt crackdown comes despite a report last week by researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Liverpool, claiming the decision to make salt reduction part of the responsibility deal, rather than the previous independent FSA regime, had contributed to 9,900 additional cases of cardiovascular disease and 1,500 cases of stomach cancer. 

There is a threat of tougher action in the green paper (a recommended maximum salt intake of 6g per day against the current average in England of 8g), with the government saying it will ‘keep all options open’ if a voluntary approach does not demonstrate enough progress by 2024.

New post-Brexit health labels on the cards 

According to the green paper, one of the first actions of the government after leaving the EU could be to consult on how Brexit paves the way for new front-of-pack health labelling.

It says it will consult ‘by the end of 2019’ on how it can build on the ‘success’ of front-of-pack traffic light labels. New labels could contain simple nutritional information intended to make it easier for consumers to make healthy choices, including a new teaspoon label, as well as schemes that focus on healthier nutrients such as high fibre. 

With the paper admitting it took 15 years for traffic lights to get off the ground - and that they are still snubbed by a large number of suppliers - the plans to consult in 2019 are described by one industry source as “ludicrous”.

“Is this really going to be a top priority for the government if we crash out in October with a no-deal Brexit?” the source says. “Food companies will have enough on their minds without worrying about another expensive new change to front-of-pack labelling.”

Energy drinks for under-16s will be banned 

Despite its health experts declaring there is little scientific evidence to back the move, the green paper says the government will ban the sale of energy drinks to under-16s.

It’s now nearly a year since the Department of Health launched a consultation on the plans, but it promises a response “shortly”. The government points to the 93% of respondents in its consultation who agreed that businesses should be prohibited from selling these drinks to children.

Not mentioned is the paper from the Committee on Toxicity, which provides advice to the DH and the FSA on the toxicity of chemicals in food and drink. In October, the committee found claims made over the worst impacts of the drinks were difficult to differentiate from normal teenage behaviour.

In December, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report said more proof was needed to establish whether energy drinks have any more harmful effects than other soft drinks containing caffeine, for the sake of ‘evidence-based decision-making’.

What next for the voluntary reformulation programme?

The green paper raises huge questions over the voluntary reformulation programme set in play by Theresa May in her original Obesity Plan, in 2016.

The document makes virtually no reference to the talks that have been carried out with industry, which have ground to a halt in the chaos surrounding Brexit.

Yet government health experts are to set out new targets to reduce calories by 20% across a huge area of food products. As it stands, PHE has not yet even published its second annual update on progress towards sugar reduction targets, despite promising a pivotal report on progress to be released in spring 2019.

Last year’s initial report showed retailers and manufacturers were less than halfway towards the proposed 5% reduction in sugar in the first year, and industry sources have warned the targets would be impossible to hit. 

Meanwhile, a PHE review of the nutrient profile and a proposed crackdown on satfats appear to have vanished into a giant black hole.

The government also promises “as soon as possible” to give its response to consultations on plans for a 9pm advertising watershed, and proposals for a crackdown on HFSS in-store promotions. They could have huge repercussions for the industry, but some believe they could be among the first to be culled by Johnson’s new-look government.