In a highly significant move, the government has confirmed plans to adopt the more stringent 2018 nutrient profiling model as the basis for determining which products can be marketed freely. By Nick Hughes.
The UK Government has restated its plan to adopt a new model for assessing the healthiness of food and drink – a move with major implications for the types of product that can be promoted and advertised on TV and online, especially those containing high amounts of sugar.
In its 10 year health plan for England, published in July 2025, Labour set out plans to replace the 2004/05 nutrient profiling model (NPM) with a 2018 version, which was consulted on at the time but never adopted by the previous Conservative government. The 2004/05 model still governs which products are classed as high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) for regulatory purposes but critics say it is out-of-date.
The 2018 model takes into account updates to nutrition science that have occurred since 2004 including advice from the government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition that daily intake of free sugars should be halved. The 2018 model is also tougher on salt and more favourable to foods with a high fibre content.
An impact assessment for the 10 year health plan, published last week by the Department for Health and Social Care, stated that applying the new model would bring more products in scope of advertising and promotion restrictions – both of which have been strengthened of late.
As of January 5th, adverts for food and drink classed as unhealthy under the current 2004 model are unable to be shown on television before 9pm and online at all times. It follows restrictions on volume promotions (like BOGOF deals) that came into effect last year. Free refills of certain drinks in restaurants and cafés have also been banned.
The government said indicative analysis suggested tightening the restrictions for food and drink advertising and promotion using the 2018 NPM could reduce calorie intake by up to an additional 30% compared to the current model, equivalent to reducing cases of childhood obesity by up to 170,000 and adult obesity by up to 940,000.
The policy to adopt the 2018 model will be subject to consultation and is likely to face significant resistance by parts of the food and drink industry. Analysis by IGD following the publication of last year’s health plan found that thousands of products currently sitting the right side of the 2004 NPM – often as a result of industry reformulation – would be pulled into the HFSS (high in fat, sugar and salt) category under the 2018 model.
Beverages, including soft drinks and smoothies, are expected to be the most affected category. IGD cited a study across 45,000 retail products showing a 75% drop in products passing the NPM under the 2018 model. Breakfast cereals (11% fewer products passing), yoghurts (5%), and frozen foods (6%) would also be negatively impacted.
IGD noted how a shift to the 2018 model could also act as a driver of healthy innovation. A higher fibre content, for example, would bump up a product’s score.
Healthy reporting
The newly published impact assessment also provided further details on the government’s plan to implement mandatory healthy food sales reporting and targets for all large companies in the food sector. Costs will be contingent on the design of the scheme, according to the document, determined by factors such as the complexity of reporting requirements and scope of businesses included. Businesses will be given flexibility on how to achieve the target, which is expected to keep costs down.
The document cited analysis of a similar proposal by Nesta, the innovation agency for social good, on which the government’s policy is based indicating a one-off cost of £45m for retailers and ongoing bi-annual costs of £3.3m.
Nesta has recommended the government adopts a staged approach to implementing the policy by first setting healthy sales targets for retailers and then extending the scope of the requirements to the out of home sector, reflecting the diverse nature of foodservice and hospitality businesses and their relatively under-developed systems for data collection.
The 10 year health plan is targeting a transformation from sickness to prevention as one of three radical shifts through which Labour plans to reinvent the NHS.
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