We'd like to thank the following charities for their support of Sugar Awareness Week 2023:

Barts Community Smiles:

"Sugars in our diet are a leading cause of dental decay. Barts Community Smiles is committed to spreading the message about looking after your dental health by brushing two times a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste, remembering to spit out toothpaste without rinsing, visiting the dentist frequently and limiting the amount of free sugars in your diet to support general and dental health. The time to act on your dental health is now!"

 

BiteBack:

"Bite Back is proud to work alongside Action on Sugar to call out the tactics of out-of-home food brands, which routinely pack their food and drink full of fat, salt and sugar. Young people crave spaces that fulfill their social needs; in their absence, teens often turn to fast food outlets. These brands need to do more to protect child health, including reducing sugar and calories in line with government targets."

 

Professor Paula Waterhouse, President, British Society of Paediatric Dentistry:

"Children and young people’s oral health services are in crisis. At BSPD, we know that interventions such as minimising the amount of sugar children consume will go towards helping them experience less tooth decay and therefore increase their chance of a better start in life. The amount of sugar in food and drinks purchased when out and about – in cafes and restaurants - is largely ‘invisible’ making it less easy for parents and carers to make the right choices.  We need transparency from this sector in terms of clear and consistent labelling and a willingness to reduce sugar in the food and drinks they serve.  

“BSPD encourages parents and carers to minimise the consumption of sugary foods and drinks and ensure twice daily toothbrushing with a fluoride toothpaste to help reduce the risk of dental decay.” 

 

Dr Rana Conway, Caroline Walker Trust Trustee:

"Caroline Walker Trust is pleased to support Sugar Awareness Week centred around the out-of-home sector. The food environment plays a key role in shaping our food choices and when we're eating out many of the options are high in sugar and sold in large portions. We need to build on the success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to tackle the high sugar levels of drinks such as hot chocolate and snacks like cinema popcorn, which contain more than the recommended daily maximum added sugar for adults in a single serving. Children are having 3 times the maximum recommended amount of added sugar, and we need to do more to protect their health."

 

Children's Food Campaign, Sustain:

"As partners in the Recipe for Change campaign, alongside Action on Sugar, we are proud to support Sugar Awareness Week 2023. We firmly back the calls for an extension to SDIL and for the introduction of new levies to help make our food and drink healthier, as part of our vision that all children should be able to live healthily and access healthy food. We know that families want affordable, tasty, convenient and healthy food, but our high streets, school canteens and supermarket shelves are flooded with food overloaded with sugar and salt. We need the government to make sure there are financial incentives for companies to do the right thing and produce tasty, affordable food without it costing our health. Find out more and join the campaign at: www.recipeforchange.org.uk."

 

Diabetes UK:

“Living with obesity is a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes is the biggest growing health crisis of our time. But currently, the environment we live in does not ensure healthy food options are the easier options, including when people are eating away from home.

“The food industry must do more to reduce unnecessary free sugar in our foods and drinks, and people should have information to help make informed choices and better access to healthy options when eating out.

“We are proud to support Sugar Awareness Week 2023 and are backing Action on Sugar’s calls to urge the food industry to reduce the levels of sugar in the products they sell.”

 

Early Start Nutrition:

“Eating well is important in the early years, as it helps children to establish healthy eating behaviours which supports their growth, development and future health and well-being outcomes. One fifth of children eat food from out of home (OOH) food outlets at least once a week and so are being exposed to higher levels of sugar. This can impact on their oral health outcomes and development of preferences for more sweet foods which they may take with them into their adult years. The reduction of sugar in the OOH sector is essential to ensure that children and their families have access to healthier, affordable options. It will also ensure children have more opportunities to experience healthier food options outside of the home environment.”

 

Faculty of Public Health:

"The Faculty backs Sugar Awareness Week and its efforts to highlight the negative impact of sugar on health issues like obesity, tooth decay, and type 2 diabetes. Two thirds of adults and one fifth of children (year 6) are overweight, with significant disparities between communities. The voluntary Sugar Reduction Programme reports that a very small sugar reduction has occurred since 2017 in the out-of-home sector (0.2%). However, better data is needed to understand the true extent of the issue.  We support the new Food Data Transparency Partnership, hoping it will provide meaningful and consistent data on the amount of sugar consumed in out-of-home food businesses and lead to more targeted and significant reductions. We support Action on Sugar's call for the government to address the availability and acceptability of unhealthy, high-sugar foods and to work toward making healthy options the most accessible and affordable."

 

Food Active:

"Food Active are delighted to be supporting this year’s Sugar Awareness Week focused on reducing sugar and calories in the out of home (OOH) food sector. Food and drink purchased and consumed OOH has become common place in UK diets – whether from a takeaway, fast food outlet or restaurant, OOH foods tend to be higher in calories, fat, salt and sugar. We know as a nation, all age groups are consuming well above the recommended sugar intake, which can lead to overweight and obesity and dental decay. However, it is clear to see from the Sugar Reduction Programme that that the food industry is failing to do their bit in helping the nation consume less sugar when consuming foods OOH. The Government must do more to reduce the public’s sugar intake and promote healthier, lower sugar options in the OOH food sector."

 

Obesity Action Scotland:

"In Scotland we average three trips a week per person to the out of home sector and the rapid expansion of the sector during the Covid-19 pandemic shows little sign of slowing down. It is therefore crucial that the out of home food sector recognise their role in protecting the health of the population. We need to build on the success of the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) and we ask the government to take a mandatory, regulatory approach to the OOH food environment to remove sugary, unhealthy food options from the spotlight and ensure healthy food is the cheapest and most easily accessible option for everyone."

 

Share Action:

“The global food industry is over-reliant on sales of food and drink that is high in sugar, salt and saturated fats. Reducing sugar in processed foods is an effective way to readdress the balance. Excessive sugar consumption is detrimental to human health, and it is critical that companies and their shareholders take responsibility for their impact on the food people have access to. ShareAction’s Healthy Market’s Initiative supports Sugar Awareness Week and the need to highlight what our food system can do reduce the nation's sugar intake and improve the health of children and society as a whole.” 

 

Soil Association:

“Soil Association is pleased to be supporting Sugar Awareness Week 2024. Through our Out to Lunch campaign we have worked with the UK’s leading high street restaurant chains to remove millions of tonnes of sugar from children’s menus. But there is still work to do. Oversized sugary puddings and refillable soft drinks remain widespread. In addition to taking action on sugar, it’s important that the Out of Home sector also curtails the use of artificial sweeteners, especially on children’s menus, reducing the overall sweetness of meals, puddings, and drinks.” 

 

Rebecca Taylor, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at World Cancer Research Fund:

“To create better food environments that support people to make healthy choices, we urgently need Governments to implement further measures including in relation to sugary food and drinks. 

“We support Action On Sugar’s call to close loopholes that leave some sugary drinks such as coffee with flavoured syrup bought from coffee shops, exempt from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. We also support reinstating the Sugar Reduction Programme, which involves companies reformulating products to make them healthier, and making it mandatory.”