It was good to see my boss from my Department of Health days talking on Food Matters Live website, about the plans to help industry to reduce sugar in processed foods and to reduce portion sizes of sugary foods.  Have a listen to Dr Alison Tedstone RNutr talking about how industry can make the food environment better particularly for children.

This is how the BBC has covered the push for industry to reduce sugar in certain products by 20%.

While health organisations and health professionals wanted PHE to go further with the Childhood Obesity Strategy, the work that Public Health England are undertaking is pushing boundaries.  Some of the work going on within the UK could easily be encouraged in international food manufacturers as the problems facing the UK with regards to tooth decay in children and obesity are shared around the world.

Many of our household food brands are owned by companies such as Nestle, Danone, Kraft and Unilever to name a few. Such companies sell products world wide and benefits from the kind of changes PHE are encouraging would benefit consumers wherever they are.  We know that the levels in salt and sugar vary considerably between countries for the same products because of local preferences.  However, if one country has seen successful gradual reduction in salt or sugar in a range of products then it is safe to say that the same can be replicated elsewhere to the benefit of consumers in those countries.  Let us make globalisation benefit health.