Public Health England - Sugar Reduction Programme

The sugar reduction programme was announced in the Childhood Obesity Plan, which was published in 2016. The programme, managed by Public Health England (PHE), challenged the food industry to reduce the overall sugar content of the food products that contribute the most sugar to children’s intakes by 20% by 2020, including an initial 5% reduction in the first year of the programme (by August 2017), compared to sugar levels in the foods in 2015.

The product categories covered by the programme are:

• Breakfast cereals
• Yogurts
• Biscuits
• Cakes
• Morning goods (e.g. croissants, English muffins, waffles)
• Puddings
• Ice cream, lollies and sorbets
• Chocolate confectionary
• Sweet confectionary
• Sweet spreads and sauces (e.g. chocolate spread, peanut butter, dessert toppings)

PHE provided a 2015 baseline average sugar content, a 5% reduction guideline, a 20% reduction guideline and a calorie (kcal) per serve guideline for industry. They also specified that sugar reduction should be achieved without an increase in the saturated fat content of the product and, ideally, should be accompanied by a calorie reduction.

Rather than specifying maximum or average targets for each categories, PHE state that the 20% reduction in sugar content could be achieved by:

1. reformulating products to lower the levels of sugar present
2. reducing the number of calories in, and/or portion size, of products that are likely to be consumed by an individual at one time 
3. shifting consumer purchasing towards lower/no added sugar products

Click here to view PHE's Sugar Reduction: Achieving the 20%

Year One Progress Report (August 2016 - August 2017)

In May 2018, PHE published their first progress report, detailing food industry progress with sugar reduction. As part of the programme, the food industry were challenged to achieve an initial 5% reduction in year one and the report details progress made against a 2015 baseline.

Overall, there was just a 2% reduction in both calories and sugar content of foods consumed on a single occasion has been made against the 5% target across categories. Good progress was made in yogurts (6%), breakfast cereals (5%) and sweet spreads and sauces (5%), achieving the 5% reduction target. However, in biscuits and chocolate confectionary there was no progress and worryingly, in puddings there was an increase in sugar content. 

Kawther Hashem – Nutritionist at Action on Sugar, said: "Whilst we welcome PHE’s first assessment of progress on the government’s sugar reduction programme, it’s evident that much more must be done – particularly on biscuits, chocolate confectionery, puddings and the large portions of high sugar products sold in the out of home sector. It’s unfair and ridiculous that these products are not being reformulated to the same extent. Much stricter measures need to be in place to ensure progress is being made by the food industry and that the 20% sugar reduction target is met."

Click here to read the year one progress report Sugar reduction: report on first year progress

Year Two Progress Report (August 2015 - August 2018)

In September 2019, PHE published its second-year report on progress made by the food industry. The report revealed that for retailers and manufacturers, there has been an overall 2.9% reduction (sales weighted average sugar per 100g) since 2015. Considering there was an overall 2% reduction in year one, this report highlights that there was just a 0.9% reduction in year two. However, good preogress has been made with retailer own brand and manufacturer branded yogurts and fromage frais, and breakfast cereals which have reduced thier sugar content by 10.3% and 8.5% respectively.

PHE looked at simple average sugar levels for the out of home sector which suggests that progress has been made; however direct comparisons should not be made due to the data available.

Katharine Jenner, Campaign Director of Action on Sugar said: “Whilst it’s encouraging to learn that both sugary yoghurts and cereals have been successful in the sugar reduction programme proving that reformulation is easily achievable, it is shameful that other manufacturers are dragging their heels and will likely fail to meet the 20% target. Every year more and more children are becoming obese. However, the government should be proud that they were brave enough to introduce the soft drinks levy which has been remarkable in that it allowed for significant sugar reduction in drinks. Manufacturers were then able to avoid paying the tax– resulting in a much bigger reduction of sugar content in drinks in the UK than originally anticipated. This demonstrates that when properly motivated, the food industry can give us healthier options. It is imperative that this momentum and levy continues and is applied to calorie dense processed foods and milk-based drinks that meet an agreed criterion set by government. Fat is a bigger contributor to calories in the diet than sugar and therefore essential that manufacturers are encouraged to reduce both in order to tackle the UK’s unhealthy eating habits and the excessive calorie intake.”

Click here to read the year two progress report Sugar reduction: Report on progress between 2015 and 2018 

Year Three Progress Report (August 2015 - August 2019)

In October 2020, PHE published its third-year report on progress against voluntarily targets to reduce sugar in everyday foods that contribute most to children’s sugar intake by 20% by 2020. For retailers and manufacturers, there is an overall 3% reduction (sales weighted average sugar per 100g) since 2015 showing this has been a minute change since last years report. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has been a success and has shown 43.7% sugar reduction per 100ml in retailer own brand and manufacturer branded products and a 38.5% reduction in the out of home sector proving to be effective. The percentage decreases from the SDIL are much greater than those seen for the food categories included in the voluntary sugar reduction programme. 

The report also includes details of the changes in sugar across juice and milk-based drinks and the out of home sector between 2015 and 2019

Graham MacGregor CBE - Chairman of Action on Sugar, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Queen Mary University of London says:

"Apart from the sugary drinks levy, it’s abundantly clear that the Government’s voluntary sugar reduction programme is simply not working, after reporting a dismal 0.1% reduction in sugar between 2018 and 2019. Food and drink companies that want to do the right thing are crying out for a level playing field, which can only be achieved by setting mandatory targets for calorie and sugar reduction.  The soft drinks levy has shown that this approach is both best for business, and best for everyone’s health, including people from more disadvantaged groups. Whilst the Government gets to grips with the current Covid-19 pandemic, it mustn’t ignore that the situation is fuelling the UK’s other pandemics – obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and tooth decay – all linked to high sugar intakes which the food industry is largely responsible for. It’s imperative that whichever organisation takes over from Public Health England, they implement comprehensive and compulsory reformulation targets across the whole of the food and drink industry to gradually reduce the amount of sugar and excess calories in food and drink."

Click here to read the year three progress report Sugar reduction: Report on progress between 2015 and 2019 

Final Progress Report

The Government’s final report of the Sugar Reduction Programme has now been released. Originally due for publication a year ago, the report is an assessment of food industry progress towards the voluntary reduction target of 20% in the food and drink products contributing most towards children’s sugar intake from a 2015 baseline to the programme end in 2020. Let’s look at some of the key results: 

1. Supermarket own brand and branded products  

Sugar content of products  

• Overall 3.5% reduction in total sugar per 100g between 2015 and 2020 (sales weighted average).  
• Larger reductions for yogurts and fromage frais (13.5%), breakfast cereals (14.9%), and ice cream, lollies and sorbets (7.2%).  
• The smallest reductions were seen in chocolate confectionary (0.9%) and puddings (2.3%). 

Total volume sales 

• 7.1% increase in the tonnes of sugar sold from the product categories included in the programme between 2015 and 2020 
• 8.1% increase in total volume sales between 2015 and 2020 for the product categories included in the programme 

2. Out-of-home sector  

• 0.2% reduction in the average sugar per 100g between 2017 and 2020.  

• Sugar content reduced in cakes (8.2%) and morning goods (3.5%), and increased in ice cream, lollies and sorbets (up 0.5%), and puddings and biscuits (up 0.3%) 
• Calorie content of food products likely to be consumed on a single occasion was also measured for certain food categories, with an overall reduction in average calories per portion from 422 kcals in 2017 to 377 kcals in 2019 (10.7%). 

3. Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL, separate, mandatory programme) 

• Sales of soft drinks have increased by 21.3% from 2015 to 2020, due to an increase in sales of drinks containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml 
• At the same time total sugar sales from the soft drinks decreased by 34.3% between 2015 and 2020. 

What next for Sugar Reduction? 

We welcome the Government’s newly published data, and the transparency this brings. Despite a disappointing headline figure, there are examples of product categories that have seen significant reductions in sugar content, showing the potential for the food industry to reduce sugar levels in their products. However, what is most clear from this, is that a voluntary programme is not an effective way to get the widespread and consistent reductions in sugar content that we need. 

The voluntary programme provides lessons learned for the future and a solid basis for a rigorous, well-managed programme, with mandatory data-driven targets specific to the different food and drink categories. In fact, as part of last month’s Sugar Awareness Week, we released our own report on the UK’s Sugar Reduction Programme, examining why more progress has not been made and making recommendations for a strong mandatory programme. As it stands the UK no longer has a sugar reduction programme, despite being asked by the WHO Europe to lead the way on sugar reduction in Europe. So now is the time to build on the progress made, and work towards implementing a mandatory programme – we can’t afford to throw away the progress that has been made.  

Professor Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and Chairman of Action on Sugar and Action on Salt says: "Whilst this new report shows that the food industry is capable of reducing sugar levels in food with good progress in breakfast cereals and yogurts, it makes it abundantly clear that a voluntary reformulation approach simply does not work. The UK faces an obesity crisis and one of the principle plans outlined by the Department of Health and Public Health England was to tackle this by reducing sugar in food products by 20% by 2020 across the main food categories. Not surprisingly the plan was an abject failure. Like with the successful soft drinks levy, the food industry wants certainty and direction which is why the Government must commit to measures such as mandatory targets for calories, sugar and salt reduction, enforced marketing and promotions restrictions and clearer, mandatory food labelling. We mustn't forget that unhealthy diets high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (which lack fruit and vegetables) is the biggest cause of death and disability globally and costs the UK more than £100 billion (combined) annually. Procrastinating any further should not be an option."