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Recipe for Changes welcomes new Health committee report
Recipe for Change welcomes the publication of the Health and Social Care Committee’s report on food and obesity, praising its clear recognition that improving the nation’s health will require “ambitious” and “courageous” government action to create healthier food environments and reduce the influence of the food and drinks industry on public health policy.
The cross-party report, Food and Weight Management: Fixing the food environment, recommends a comprehensive package of measures to tackle obesity, including stronger restrictions on food advertising, mandatory healthy sales reporting and targets for supermarkets, improved front-of-pack nutrition labelling, reforms to the Healthy Start scheme, and planning measures to limit new fast-food outlets near schools.
The Committee is right to recognise that obesity is not simply a matter of individual choice, but is shaped by a food system that too often makes unhealthy options the easiest and cheapest. We welcome the report’s call for Government to prioritise prevention and to resist pressure from parts of the food industry that have historically opposed policies designed to improve public health. This strongly echoes citizen calls in our recently launched campaign ‘We’re Fed Up!’, demanding healthy, affordable food for everyone and for companies to do more to prioritise public health.
In particular, we welcome the Committee’s recognition that “taxation has been shown to drive producer behaviour through the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL), and we believe this should continue as a mechanism for driving reformulation.” The success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy demonstrates that well-designed fiscal measures can encourage businesses to improve the nutritional quality of products while maintaining consumer choice. We also welcome the recommendation for the government to set out a timetable for reducing the threshold at which the levy is paid to its originally intended 4g for 100ml.
However, given the strong body of evidence showing that fiscal measures can incentivise reformulation, reduce excessive levels of sugar and salt in everyday food, and support healthier diets across the population, we are disappointed that the committee did not go further to urge the government to expand its consideration of similar fiscal measures beyond soft drinks. This had been a central question in the original call for evidence, and also raised during its oral evidence sessions where Recipe for Change was represented by Dr Kawther Hashem.
Dr Kawther Hashem, Senior Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition and Head of Research and Impact at Action on Salt & Sugar based at Queen Mary University of London says:
“We are delighted to have contributed evidence to this inquiry. For far too long, the odds have been stacked against families, with foods high in fat, salt and sugar often cheaper, more heavily promoted and easier to access than healthier choices, contributing to obesity and other preventable diet-related diseases. The Committee is therefore right to call on Ministers to stand up to vested commercial interests and put public health first.
“However, important opportunities have been missed. The report does not go far enough on extending the successful SDIL levy model to key food categories high in fat, salt and sugar. Ministers must now build on the strongest recommendations in this report, to close the remaining gaps and introduce bold, evidence-based regulation that creates a level playing field across the food industry and protects the health of children and families.”
The report also makes strong recommendations on policies to improve access to healthier food such as improving Healthy Start. Recipe for Change has also pointed to the potential for any revenue raised by existing or future levies to be used to increase access to healthier food.
Recipe for Change is calling on Government to build on the proven success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy by introducing new fiscal measures that incentivise food manufacturers to make their products healthier, while generating funding that can be invested in children’s health and access to good food. The Committee’s report provides a strong foundation for action; the next step is ensuring Government is willing to be as ambitious as the scale of the challenge demands.
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Published 15 Jul 2026
