High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) foods and drinks have been a growing concern in public health worldwide. HFSS foods are often referred to as “junk” or “unhealthy” foods. Their excessive consumption is associated with an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. These foods are typically high in calories, low in nutrients, and can lead to poor diet quality. HFSS regulations have been implemented to try and combat this worrying trend.
The issue of HFSS consumption has gained increasing attention in recent years, with health experts, governments, and the public becoming more aware of its negative impact on health. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised the threat that HFSS foods pose to public health and as consumption of HFSS foods has increased dramatically over the last few decades, is now considered an important public health challenge.
In many countries, and not least the UK, governments and public health organisations are taking action to tackle this issue, with measures such as sugar taxes, restrictions on advertising, and improved food labelling.
Overall, the increasing concern over HFSS consumption highlights the need for greater awareness and action to promote healthier eating habits and reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases associated with poor diet quality.
HFSS regulations have been introduced in the UK to combat this trend.
HFSS refers to the quantities of Fat, Salt, and Sugar that are found in food and drinks. These foods and drinks are often low in nutrients and can contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems when consumed in excess.
Healthier ingredients that are also present within a recipe such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, fibre and protein contribute towards the final HFSS calculation. It’s worth noting that naturally occurring sugars are out of scope of HFSS (e.g. sugar that is naturally occurring within fruit or vegetables).
Examples of foods and drinks commonly classified as HFSS include the following:
Breakfast cereals.
Soft, canned drinks that have not been artificially sweetened.
Processed snacks and ready meals, including fast food and takeaways.
Biscuits, bars, confectionery, chocolates and sweets.
Baked goods such pastries, cakes or buns.
Even fresh fruit and vegetables can be prone.
Non-carbonated drinks such as juices, flavoured milk and yoghurt drinks.
Crisps and other savoury snacks that may be fried or flavoured heavily with salt.
Battered or breadcrumbed foods like fish or chicken, also chips and potato based items from the frozen aisle.
The primary purpose of The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 is to:
a) reduce the availability of products that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) such as that one can buy through “volume promotions”, typically seen in the form of incentive offers like ‘buy one get one free’. This part of the regulation comes into force in October 2025.
b) to restrict the placement of HFSS product categories in high footfall areas of an affected store, like checkouts, end-of-aisle units, store entrances, and designated queueing areas. This part of the regulation came into force in October 2022.
You can read the full implementation guidance on ‘Restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar or salt by location and by volume price’ to find out more about which businesses are affected, what foods are in scope and the enforcement process.
The increasing concern about the health impact of HFSS consumption has prompted governments and health organisations to take action. Several countries have implemented regulations and policies to limit the promotion, advertising, and sale of HFSS products, particularly to children.
In the United Kingdom, the government has introduced a series of measures to reduce the promotion of HFSS products to children, including restrictions on advertising HFSS products on television and online media, and the implementation of a sugar tax on sugary drinks.
In the UK where a third of children aged 2 to 15 are overweight, the government has launched the Childhood Obesity Plan, which aims to reduce childhood obesity by 50% by 2030. This plan includes restrictions on advertising HFSS products and the introduction of calorie labelling in restaurants and cafes.
The sugar tax in the UK has led to a reduction in sugar content in drinks, achieved largely through sugar substitution and in many cases encourages the use of high intensity sweeteners such as Aspartame.
The full impact on overall sugar intake remains to be fully determined, however the industry continues to evolve not least with an emerging trend to use plant-based alternatives, such as Stevia, which whilst typically more expensive than their artificial counterparts have bought new ground with their healthier image and suitability for clean labelling.
Around the globe, others such as the US and Europe, are taking similar measures directly targeting HFSS foods with their own legislation.
However, the effectiveness of these policies and initiatives is a subject of debate. Some studies have shown that policies such as sugar taxes and warning labels are successful and lead to reduced consumption of HFSS products, while others have suggested the opposite; that they may not have a significant impact on overall dietary patterns.
While there are regulations and policies in place to reduce HFSS consumption in many countries, more needs to be done to address this issue on a global scale. Governments and health organisations need to work together to develop effective policies and initiatives that will lead to a reduction in the consumption of HFSS foods and drinks, and ultimately improve public health.
Consumers find it difficult to cut down on HFSS foods and drinks. Fast food and stretched budgets both point to unhealthy consumption habits. However, shopper sentiment does appear to be changing. There are plenty of healthier alternatives available that are proving popular, and the choice continues to grow. They exist alongside their unhealthy siblings on the shelf. An increasing trend for paying closer attention to food labels which means consumers have started to seek out the products that are lower in sugar, salt and saturated fat be they vegan dairy alternatives, or unprocessed / natural foods. It therefore makes sense to respond to this move through reformulation, and what is becoming increasingly clear is that it’s the food manufacturers which are in control here; they are the one’s able to enact change right from the top down.
Let’s summarise the key points:
Balancing health and taste are a critical consideration for food manufacturers when reformulating their products to reduce HFSS content. While reducing the sugar, fat, and salt content in foods is important for public health, it can also significantly impact the taste and texture of the product. This can be a major challenge for manufacturers, who need to find a way to reduce HFSS content without sacrificing the sensory experience that consumers expect. By getting it wrong, and the consequences will manifest in a reduction in product sales.
One potential solution to this challenge is to use alternative ingredients and flavours that provide the same level of taste and texture as traditional HFSS ingredients. For example, some manufacturers have successfully used sugar alternatives such as stevia or erythritol in combination with other sources of carbohydrates (important for replicating the functionality of sugar, not just sweetness) to replace it, while others have used vegetable oils in place of saturated fats.
There are also successful examples of reformulated products that have maintained their taste while reducing HFSS content. For instance, Nestle reduced the sugar content in its KitKat chocolate bars by 10% without compromising on taste or texture. They achieved this with a combination of reformulation, and ingredient engineering to hollow out the crystals – Nestle have said that each particle is then able to dissolve more quickly on the tongue, so less sugar is needed to achieve the same taste. Similarly, Coca-Cola reduced the sugar content in its Sprite and Fanta brands by 30% without affecting taste through the use of sweeteners, such as stevia.
To balance health and taste in their reformulation efforts, food manufacturers should first focus on understanding the sensory profile of their products. This involves analysing the product’s taste, texture, and appearance and identifying the key components that contribute to its sensory experience. Once the key sensory components are identified, manufacturers can experiment with alternative ingredients and flavours to find a suitable replacement for the HFSS ingredients. They need to test and develop alternative ingredients that can maintain the taste, texture, and quality of the product while reducing its HFSS content. This requires significant investment in research and development. Work together with your supply chain partners, ingredients suppliers and formulation experts to work on recipes that deliver against this criteria, and you stand the best chance of staying ahead of a rapidly changing consumer landscape. Consumer testing and feedback are also crucial during the reformulation process. Companies need to understand how consumers perceive and respond to changes in the product’s taste and texture. They can use this feedback to make further adjustments to the reformulated product and ensure that it meets consumer expectations.
All this being said, it’s a surprisingly difficult thing to achieve. Consumers are sometimes very hard to unpackage, and you need not look too far to find examples where well invested product updates have been poorly received. Any product update is hard to execute. A shape or name change is often as hard to implement as something more fundamental like flavour.
So proceed with caution, and do not underestimate the power of the consumer – we don’t all have the ability to throw marketing budget at a problem, and for many of the smaller food manufacturers, it’s often formulation that comes first.
It is crucial to understand the harmful effects of HFSS on health and take necessary steps to adapt to an evolving consumer landscape. Consequently, HFSS regulations have had a significant impact on the food industry, putting pressure on manufacturers to reduce the HFSS content in their products to support public health. If you’ve not taken time to consider the implications of HFSS upon your own products, then now is the time to respond.
Reformulation is an obvious strategy, to meet HFSS regulations however it’s not a process to be taken lightly. Reformulation can pose challenges for manufacturers. Changes in taste, texture, and shelf life are often significant and have a huge impact upon how the product is consumed. To overcome these challenges, manufacturers must take a consumer-centric approach and use consumer testing and feedback to ensure the reformulated products are both healthy and enjoyable. Ultimately, the success of reformulation will depend on striking a balance between health and taste, while being mindful of consumer preferences. By embracing reformulation, manufacturers can not only comply with regulations but also meet the growing demand for healthier products, ultimately improving public health.
Manufacturers must also work with consumers to encourage better habits through the products they sell. Consumers can make small changes in their diet and lifestyle to reduce intake of HFSS by taking actionable steps such as reading food labels carefully, reducing portion sizes, and increasing physical activity.
Above all, change can happen without sacrificing the products we make, sell, consume and enjoy. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the tsunami of news and scaremongering around dietary choices and dangers in consuming the wrong foods, when there is also much pleasure to be derived from the odd treat, and from a mental health standpoint, there is every reason to enjoy that reward – and consumer demand still exists for HFSS products. People don’t generally want to exist within a rigid framework relying entirely upon heavily formulated health-focused miracle foods. The concept of a balanced diet is nothing new yet is something we should all be promoting.
For example, the joy of eating some homemade ice cream on a hot summer’s day, or sipping fresh juice squeezed from a bag of oranges to enjoy with your Sunday morning breakfast. These foods may well be high in fat, sugar or salt, but they taste great and when created ethically, enjoyed in moderation and consumed sensibly as a treat, can easily be included as part of a healthy, nutritional diet and consumers are still just as happy to invest in these products as they are to select the vegan or natural alternative.