The Childhood Obesity Plan was published in England on 18 August 2016. This outlined a number of actions to be taken forward with industry including both a soft drinks industry levy and a sugar reduction plan. Public Health England (PHE) subsequently published a paper outlining their role in the implementation of the Obesity Plan which includes a list of nine food categories that contribute most of the sugar in our diet. From 2017 PHE will work towards setting targets, similar to the current UK salt targets, to deliver 20% reduction in sugar across these categories by 2020.

The categories identified by PHE are as follows:

• yoghurts           
• breakfast cereals   
• biscuits                      
• cakes and morning goods             
• puddings                    
• chocolate confectionery                           
• sweet confectionery   
• ice cream        
• sweet spreads   

The FSA is considering what impact this may have on local food manufacturers and retailers, as well as the out-of- home sector – restaurants, pubs, take-away, cafes etc. The Eating Well Choosing Better programme supports small and medium sized businesses here with food product improvement, as well as improving the availability of small and/or reduced portion sizes, to make the healthy choice easy for the NI consumer. This project has been included on the NI Programme for Government consultation. The FSA is preparing an action and delivery plan in line with what is happening in both the UK (PHE) and the Republic of Ireland.

The FSA wants to hear from key stakeholders on their views of food product improvement and find out about any work already underway in Northern Ireland.

Slides from the Sugar Reduction event  held on 27th June 2017 are below.

Please contact us for more information.