Nutrition: Children

Mr. Lancaster
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department’s policy is in respect of the regulation of the levels of sugar and salt contained in foods and drinks marketed at children.

Gillian Merron
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working with the United Kingdom food and drinks industry on a voluntary basis to reformulate foods to reduce the levels of salt and sugar present in a range of foods and drinks, including those aimed at children, focusing on those foods which contribute significantly to intakes of these nutrients.

The FSA has set salt reduction targets for around 80 categories of food to be met by the food industry by 2010, and further stricter targets for 2012. In July 2009 the FSA issued a public consultation which includes draft recommendations to the food industry to reduce sugar levels and portion sizes of sugar-containing soft drinks.

The Government have regulated to limit the amounts of salt, fat and sugars served to children over the school day through the statutory school food standards (The Education (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food)(England) Regulations 2007, as amended). The statutory standards provide nutrient standards to be met for 14 nutrients within the food provision. To support this, the FSA developed Target Nutrient Specifications for manufactured products served as part of school lunches. These voluntary specifications cover manufactured products across 40 food categories and provide guidance for the level of salt, total fat, saturated fat, and sugars within each category that if procured would reduce these nutrients in the overall menu provision. These specifications are currently under review.