The new House of Lords' committee on food, diet and obesity report has called on the government to create financial incentives for a healthier food industry. Here we share various responses from members of the Recipe for Change coalition.

The House of Lords' select committee on food, diet and obesity report Recipe for Health: A plan to fix our broken food system has called for a number of actions by government in the short, medium and long term around reformulation, mandatory industry targets and expansion of further levies, amongst many other topics from industry engagement in policy, ultra-processed foods, school meals, Healthy Start, advertising and marketing, labelling and a call for a comprehensive food strategy co-ordinated by Number 10 across government.

Specifically in relation to Recipe for Change’s focus, the report’s recommendations include:

• Make a decisive shift away from voluntary measures to a system of mandatory regulation of the food industry. (p.10)
• Fundamentally reshape the incentives for the food industry through a coherent and integrated set of policy interventions to reduce the production and consumption of less healthy foods, and drive production and sales of healthier foods. (p.10)
• Legislate as soon as possible to make targets with dates for reduction of salt, sugar and calories mandatory for large businesses and require those businesses to report on progress. Progress should be monitored by the Food Standards Agency and reported to Parliament. Fines for failure to comply should be introduced by the end of the Parliament. (p.15)
• Announce as soon as possible that it intends to uprate the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) to keep pace with consumer price inflation since it was introduced and review the rate of the SDIL annually from now on. The Government should also reduce the current thresholds for the levy from 5g and 8g per 100ml to 4g and 7g per 100ml and bring sugary milk-based drinks into scope. The changes should be applied by April 2026 at the latest. (p.15)
• Announce an intention to introduce a salt and sugar reformulation tax and apply it as soon as possible, and within two years at most. (p.15)
• Introduce measures to make healthier food more affordable. To this end, the Government should urgently commission a comprehensive review of the evidence on the most cost-effective interventions to drive businesses to produce and market healthier, often unprocessed or minimally processed fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains and to drive up consumption of those foods. This should include consideration both of universal subsidies and of targeted measures to support people on low incomes. (p.15)

Member responses to the recommendations on food reformulation and taxes:

Kate Howard, campaign co-ordinator for Recipe for Change says:

"We strongly welcome the Lords’ committee recommendation to shift the financial incentives for the food industry and accelerate progress towards more healthy products. The report reflects Recipe for Change’s own modelling showing that an industry salt and sugar reformulation tax could prevent up to 2 million cases of chronic disease, including diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and some cases of cancer over the next 25 years. Public opinion is very clear in wanting the government to intervene with the food industry, including taxing manufacturers of unhealthy food and drink, especially if revenues from these levies are then also used to invest in children’s health and increase access to healthy food like fruit and vegetables for those on the lowest incomes. We’ve seen this work incredibly well with the Soft Drinks Industry Levy already, it’s time to build on that success and go further to create a level playing field for a healthier food industry.”

Katharine Jenner, Director of the Obesity Health Alliance says:

"By taking forward these recommendations, it will create a fairer marketplace by rewarding companies that have invested in healthier products and punish those lagging. Moreover, the proposed new levy on manufacturers will generate vital revenue to make healthy food more affordable for everyone. This isn’t just a plan for better health – it’s a recipe to change our broken food system and deliver the vital changes necessary to create the healthiest generation of children ever.”

Dr Kawther Hashem, Head of Research and Impact at Action on Salt and Action on Sugar says:

This new report highlights the crucial need for policies that significantly improve what, where and how we eat and drink. The introduction of a salt and sugar reformulation tax for food manufacturers, inspired by the success of the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL), is essential, given that voluntary sugar and salt reduction programmes have proven less effective. Without financial pressure, food companies have little incentive to improve their products.

“Unquestionably, unhealthy food high in salt, sugar, and fat, with insufficient fruit, vegetables, and fibre, is a leading cause of death globally. We urgently need a food environment that prioritises making healthier options more accessible, available, and affordable for all.”

Nikita Sinclair, co-director of the Children's Food and Health programme at Impact on Urban Health says:

"We support the introduction of a levy on the food and drink industry, to encourage companies to improve their recipes and help increase the flow of healthy, affordable products available to children and families. We further encourage the Government to consider in the round how our food is produced, marketed and sold. Bringing together actors from across the food system is the best way to tackle entrenched health inequalities and deliver change at the scale that’s required to fix our broken food system."

Beth Bradshaw, Food Active Policy and Advocacy Manager, Health Equalities Group says:

"We strongly welcome the comprehensive and ambitious set of recommendations made in the House of Lord’s Recipe 4 Change report today; from closing loopholes of current legislation to restrict less healthy products at the checkout, to expanding the successful Soft Drinks Industry Levy to more tools and power to support local authorities to restrict the advertising of less healthy food and drink. These are timely recommendations for the new government to consider as part of their mission to create the healthiest generation of children and build an NHS fit for the future."

Alice Wiseman, Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health says: 

“Today’s report rightly recognises that the UK is facing an obesity and diet-related disease public health emergency – the UK has the fourth highest level of people living with obesity in Europe and a third of children in their final year of primary school are overweight or living with obesity. These statistics cannot be allowed to get worse.

"We have to make affordable food more accessible. The fact that healthy food is three times more expensive than unhealthy alternatives takes away people’s freedom of choice and is paving the way for increasing numbers of people being forced to live with avoidable ill health and disease. We would also like to see mandatory reformulation – there is simply no need to have excessive amounts of fat, sugar and salt in our food.

“The Government has already made a clear commitment to preventing disease, and so I hope that they take today’s report and recommendations seriously, and take urgent action to give people the freedom to live healthier lives for longer.”