New data from Kantar Worldpanel shows the result of years of investment made by food and drink manufacturers to slash salt, sugar, and calories from British diets.
The Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) members’ products now have around a third less salt (31%) and sugar (30%) and a quarter (24%) fewer calories compared to a decade ago.
The ‘Shaping a healthier future through food and drink’ report illustrates the wide variety of food and drink that manufacturers are producing to help people achieve more balanced and varied diets amid busy lifestyles.
FDF’s members produce a quarter of all food and drink sold in the UK, from the everyday staples found in kitchen cupboards, fridges and freezers, from oats, yoghurt, tins of beans and frozen vegetables, to ready meals, confectionary and new healthier snacks.
In 2024 alone, food and drink manufacturers invested around £180 million in healthier product innovation. This includes modifying recipes to reduce sugar, calories and salt, developing new healthier products and changing portion sizes.
While food and drink manufacturers will continue to lead the way, FDF is calling for government to take bold, coordinated action across the whole food system to rethink how we support the shift to healthier diets, building on existing policies.
This includes mandatory reporting on the sales of healthier and less healthy products across manufacturing, retail and hospitality. It also means taking a more consistent approach to health policy across the entire food chain, ensuring consumers have access to the same, clear information that helps them to make healthier choices, no matter where they’re eating.
Additionally, with 41% of food and drink manufacturers compelled to scale back investment as they grapple with rising production costs and regulatory pressures, government must open more R&D funding and science support to the food sector to sustain investment in healthier products.
This includes through bolstering existing R&D tax credits, grants and capital allowance schemes. The FDF also call on UK Government to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in developing healthier products by replicating Scottish Government’s successful ‘Reformulation for Health’ programme.
A fund of as little as £4 million to offer this scheme across the UK would transform SMEs’ ability to engage in healthier product innovation by mitigating costs and creating a network of expertise and support.
Karen Betts, Chief Executive, The Food and Drink Federation, said: “Food and drink manufacturers are playing a quiet but vital role in helping people achieve balanced diets amid the pressures of busy lives. Companies have made major progress in slashing the calories, salt and sugar in everyday food and drink – making the food people love better for them, alongside hugely expanding the range of healthy options.
“But tackling poor diets and lifestyles is a complex issue and needs a more joined-up approach. We’re calling on the government today to work in a more structured partnership with the entire food industry to deliver change.
“It has a clear opportunity to do this in its upcoming Food Strategy, where we hope to see health policies that support industry to go further, and are consistent across existing regulation and across all parts of the sector. Rethinking this challenge, with holistic and coordinated action, will help us truly move the needle on this critical health challenge.”