Food makers 'slash calories' in British shopping baskets

Food and drink manufacturers have reduced salt by a third, and sugar and calories by a quarter in a typical shopping basket since 2015, a new study has found.

According to the data from Kantar Worldpanel, member firms of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) now contribute 33 per cent less salt, 25 per cent less sugar and 24 per cent fewer calories to the British grocery market compared with 2015.

The FDF is calling on the government to give more support to reformulation efforts, particularly for smaller food companies, which it says is currently only a “fraction of what’s available to industries like aerospace or automotive manufacturing”.

This success in cutting calories, sugar and salt from everyday food and drink items and familiar brands follows significant innovation and investment from the UK’s food and drink manufacturing industry, states FDF.

In 2023 alone, more than £160m was invested in research and development dedicated to healthier product innovation, including changing recipes to make them healthier (reformulation); creating new, healthier products; and changing portion sizes.

FDF cited examples of Kellanova' four cereal renovations to create healthier products and Birds Eye’s three new, healthy, veg-rich frozen prepared meals as the makers' effort to come up with healthier products.

FDF chief scientific officer Kate Halliwell said, “Creating delicious and nutritious food and drink is no easy task – it takes time, investment and technical expertise. We’re proud to see the continued and significant advances made by our industry to offer healthier options reflected in the UK’s shopping baskets.

“The industry, and in particular smaller companies, could do even more with better government support, which is currently only a fraction of what’s available to, for example, investments in the aerospace or automotive manufacturing sectors.

“To take critical investment in healthier product innovation to the next level, we’re calling on government to support the UK’s largest manufacturing industry in boosting further investment in reformulation.

“In addition, given the challenges smaller companies face in overcoming the complexity of reformulating products, we’re calling on the UK government to provide a £4 million fund to support SMEs who want to do the right thing, replicating the very successful Scottish government-funded Reformulation for Health programme across the whole of the UK.

"This scheme has proven itself to be a cost-effective way of supporting innovative projects that have removed millions of calories from Scottish food products in line with public health goals.”