A consultation to explore ways of reducing the average amount of saturated fat in people?s diets and help make healthier eating easier has been published today by the Food Standards Agency.
Gill Fine, Director of Nutrition and Dietary Health at the Food Standards Agency, said: ‘Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in the UK and poor diet is thought to be responsible for a third of these deaths.
‘Many leading food manufacturers and retailers have already taken action to provide healthier food choices for consumers. Over the past three years we have seen reductions in the levels of salt as well as lower fat ranges of products. We are keen to find out what more could be done to make it easier for consumers to take action to improve their diets.’
The Agency is seeking views on four areas over the next three months:
– making people more aware and improving understanding of healthy eating, particularly the effects of too much saturated fat on health
– encouraging manufacturers to increase availability of smaller portion sizes as an alternative to mainstream product sizes, as often smaller portions are restricted to supermarkets as part of a multi-pack and may come with a price premium
– helping to ensure healthier reduced saturated fat alternatives to everyday foods are more widely available, and encouraging consumers to choose these
– encouraging the food industry to look at what they?re putting in their products and improving the recipe of everyday foods by reducing the levels of saturated fat
Gill Fine added: ‘We want to build on the work that has already started and are keen to hear from a wide range of organisations; retailers, manufacturers, consumer groups, health professionals and the public.’
We will be having a series of meetings with interested parties during the consultation period to discuss ideas. Once the consultation period closes and comments have been received, the Agency will work with others to develop the programme further.