First up this week is the conclusion of the ‘will they, won’t they’ saga over government plans to ban volume promotions like BOGOF deals on unhealthy food and drink. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has nipped in the bud industry hopes for a delay by publishing new guidance on how the regulations will work when they come into force in October. It also includes examples of drinks in and out of scope of the restrictions on free refills in the restaurant and out of home sector.
The Food and Drink Federation, which has led industry calls for a delay to the ban, said it was “disappointing” that the government had pressed ahead with the restrictions, citing the risk of the policy adding to food price inflation (which is a contested claim). Campaigners on the other hand welcomed the publication of the guidance which Children’s Food Campaign coordinator Barbara Crowther said should put “an end to the confusion created by recent backbench and backdoor industry lobbying to get the government to dilute or delay their introduction”.
Crowther, along with other campaigners, is less pleased about the ongoing delay to publication of the final report on the voluntary industry sugar reduction programme, which is now six months overdue and counting. Sustain, the food and farming alliance, said the report is expected to provide further evidence of the success of the soft drinks industry levy while exposing a “dismaying lack of progress in most other product categories covered by the voluntary reduction programme”. Forty health organisations, academics and food groups have written to Secretary of State for Health Sajid Javid calling for the report’s publication.
Elsewhere on the health front, foodservice businesses in England are now three weeks into the great calorie labelling experiment whose success or otherwise is being closely monitored by governments in the devolved nations, most notably in Scotland where this week the government launched a consultation on its own plans to make calorie labelling on menus in the out of home sector a legal requirement.
The 12-week consultation will seek views on how calorie labelling could apply to public sector institutions such as hospitals and prisons, pre-packed foods such as filled sandwiches, online takeaway menus and children’s menus.
In a busy spring for policy wonks north of the border the Scottish government has also announced the formation of an advisory group that will shape plans for mandatory charges on coffee cups and other single-use disposable beverage containers. Manufacturers, distributors and small and large retailers will be represented on the group as well as consumer groups, environmental NGOs, equalities groups and academics. The government hopes that charging for single-use cups will help encourage people to make the move to reusable alternatives and support the shift to a more circular economy.
The Scottish Government has also issued a call for evidence on how to reduce consumption of single-use food containers and other single-use items as part of its commitment to meet or exceed the standards of the EU Single-use Plastics Directive.
It all adds up to a lot of papers for interested parties to pour over and probe. Lucky it’s a four-day weekend. Happy Easter!
