UK government's new placement legislation is a 'good first step': a rapid qualitative analysis of consumer, business, enforcement and health stakeholder perspectives.

BACKGROUND: The current food system in England promotes a population diet that is high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). To address this, the UK government has implemented legislation to restrict the promotion of HFSS products in prominent locations (e.g. store entrances, checkouts) in qualifying retailers since October 2022. This study investigated the perceived impact of the legislation for affected stakeholders. METHODS: A pre-implementation rapid qualitative evaluation of stakeholder interviews. One hundred eight UK stakeholders participated in the study including 34 consumers, 24 manufacturers and retailers, 22 local authority enforcement officers and 28 academic and charitable health representatives. A participatory conference was used to enable policy recommendations to be confirmed by stakeholders. RESULTS: Stakeholders perceived the legislation to be a 'good first step' towards improving population diet but recognised this needed to be considered amongst a range of long-term obesity policies. Areas of further support were identified and these are presented as six recommendations for government to support the successful implementation of the legislation: (1) provide a free central HFSS calculator, (2) refine legislation to enhance intent and clarity, (3) conduct a robust evaluation to assess intended and unintended outcomes, (4) provide greater support for smaller businesses, (5) provide ring-fenced resources to local authorities and (6) create and communicate a long-term roadmap for food and health. CONCLUSIONS: This legislation has the potential to reduce impulse HFSS purchases and makes a solid start towards creating healthier retail outlets for consumers. Immediate government actions to create a freely accessible HFSS calculator, support smaller businesses and provide additional resources to local authorities would support successful implementation and enforcement. Independent evaluation of the implementation of the legislation will enable monitoring of potential unintended consequences identified in this study and support refinement of the legislation. A long-term roadmap is necessary to outline strategies to support equal access to healthier and sustainable food across the whole food system within the next 20-30 years.

Are advertising policies affirmative in restricting the marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) in India?: evidence from SWOT Analysis.

The regulatory Indian environment for advertising high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods and non-alcoholic beverages, on various media was reviewed. Identified national-level policies were categorised as mandatory or self-regulatory based on legal content. For each mandatory regulation, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis was undertaken to determine how existing policies could be strengthened to safeguard children from unhealthy food advertisements. Thirteen policies (nine mandatory; four self-regulatory) relevant to advertising in India were identified. Of the nine mandatory policies, Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, is the only policy that restricts HFSS food advertisements to children across all media. There are key shortfalls, including limited scope of 'child-targeted' advertisements and lack of criteria to define HFSS foods. A robust regulatory framework is needed to protect children from HFSS food marketing, not just what is 'directed' at them, with clear evidence-based food classification criteria.

Expenditure and Nutritional Impact of Banning the Promotion of Foods High in Fat, Sugar and Salt in Scotland.

The purpose of the paper is to provide an ex-ante evaluation of banning price promotions for discretionary foods (e. g., such as confectionary, crisps, biscuits, sweet and savory snacks, cakes) in Scotland. The methodology consisted of the estimation of demand systems by socioeconomic groups (i.e., lifestage and income groups) for 19 food groups using a highly product disaggregated dataset. These results were used to simulate scenarios consisting of eliminating price promotions on the discretionary food products for the entire sample and by group and analyzing nutritional results. The results indicated a net impact of reducing energy by 651 kcal per capita per week (C.I. -695, -608). Similar results were found for macro nutrients. There were some significant differences across different income and lifestage groups, with kcal energy reductions being significantly greater amongst household with lower income, and in households where respondents were aged 45 years or over. The analysis concluded that restrictions on the promotion of foods considered to be high in saturated fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) are seen as one measure to improve the overall nutritional quality of foods consumed. Results indicate that restricting promotions has the potential to reduce the number of calories, sugar, saturated fats and sodium for most food groups.