Food system needs major overhaul, says Food Foundation

The Food Foundation is calling for a major overhaul of the food system as its 2023 Broken Plate report reveals the dangerous impact of negative trends in the nation’s diet.

The report highlights the wide range of damaging effects caused by “poor nutrition and the absence of a coherent UK food policy”, leading to problems which include stunted growth in children and record-breaking levels of amputations linked to the complications of obesity.

The Foundation said Broken Plate presents the strongest arguments so far for a change in the nation’s food policies to give everyone in the UK access to a healthy diet that avoids further damage to global climate and environment.

Its research presents a bleak picture of the consequences of our broken food system including:

• On current trends more than 80% of children born in 2022 who survive to the age of 65 will be overweight or obese. At least one in 20 of them will already have died.
• Obesity in children has risen by 50% in the past year alone. Children with obesity are more likely to grow up to have diet-related disease.
• Poor nutrition is causing stunted growth. British five-year-olds are shorter than five-year-old populations of our European neighbours with significant height variation between poor and wealthy areas within this country.
• Life-limiting amputations caused by the complications of diabetes linked to obesity have reached record levels.
• Healthy nutritious food is nearly three times more expensive than obesogenic unhealthy products, with more healthy foods costing an average of £8.51 for 1,000 calories compared to just £3.25 for 1,000 calories of less healthy foods. Between 2021 and 2022 healthier foods became even more expensive, increasing in price by an average of 5.1% compared with 2.5% for the least healthy foods.
• Excess weight costs the UK approximately £74 billion every year in direct NHS costs, lost workforce productivity and reduced life expectancy. It is one of the main factors in the 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest members of society.
• One in five households would have to spend almost half their disposable income on food to achieve the government-recommended healthy diet, leaving little money for energy and other household bills. By contrast, the wealthiest fifth of the population would need to spend just 11% of their disposable income.
• Sustainable alternative milks made from ingredients such as oats and soya, cost up to £1.79 per litre compared to £1 for cows’ milk. They are 60% more expensive than dairy milk even though they on average create less than a third of the greenhouse gas emissions of dairy milk and use little more than half the water to produce.
• Sandwiches with plant-based fillings cost £3.25 on average compared with £3.00 for meat and £2.85 for fish.
• Breakfast cereals and yogurts are foods that parents often give their children in the belief they are relatively healthy, but only 7% of breakfast cereals and 4% of yogurts marketed for children are low in sugar. Some breakfast cereals and yogurts supply almost the entire recommended daily allowance (RDA) of sugar in one portion: Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallows 17.0g (89% of a 4–6-year-old’s maximum recommended intake); Nestlé Smarties Vanilla Flavour Yogurt 16.5g (87% of a 4-6 year old’s maximum recommended intake).

Anna Taylor, executive director at The Food Foundation said: ‘This report provides the strongest evidence to date of the worsening crisis affecting our food system and the health of the UK population.

Anna Taylor, executive director at The Food Foundation said:  “It is vital that the incoming prime minister takes urgent action to address the issues raised by the National Food Strategy with the development of a new plan for primary legislation.”

Catherine Dennison, welfare programme head at the Nuffield Foundation added: “We support The Food Foundation’s call for a comprehensive policy and practice response from government and industry if we are to improve people’s health and well-being, including for the youngest children in our society.”

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