The British Food Standards Agency wants food manufacturers to reduce the amount of saturated fat and sugar, and make smaller single size portions of in a number of key foods – biscuits, cakes, buns, chocolate confectionery and soft drinks.
According to the Agency’s website, these foods are among the key foods in the UK which contribute the most to saturated fat and calories for UK consumers.
The Agency is encouraging industry to:
- Reduce saturated fat in biscuits, cakes, buns and chocolate confectionery.
- Reduce added sugar in soft drinks.
- Make smaller single portion sizes more easily available for chocolate confectionery and soft drinks.
The Agency is encouraging the food industry to reformulate – making changes to ingredients and recipes – and reduce portion sizes.
The Agency is proposing that the industry:
- Reduces the saturated fat level in some chocolate confectionery (bars with fillings) by at least 10%.
- Make soft drinks containing added sugar available in single portion sizes of 250ml.
- Reduces the saturated fat content in plain sweet and savoury biscuits, and plain cakes by at least 10%; and 5% in non-plain biscuits and cakes.
Further recommendations will follow early in the summer on dairy and meat products, pastry and savoury snacks, the Agency says.
