UK Food Regulatory Landscape Update July 2025
The UK Government has announced plans to repeal the High Fat, Sugar, Salt (HFSS) restrictions related to volume price promotions and aisle placement in England's food law. These restrictions, which were introduced in 2022, were scheduled to start implementing in October 2025, but the current government has decided to repeal them as part of its NHS 10-Year Health Plan, published on 23rd July 2025 [1][2].
Changes to the Food Regulations
The repeal of these restrictions signals a shift from strict product placement and promotion bans towards mandatory health food sales reporting for large companies. The government aims to increase transparency and set targets to increase the sales proportion of healthier foods [2]. Companies can meet these targets by reformulating products, innovating healthier options, or modifying incentive schemes.
The Nutrient Profiling Model for defining HFSS products will also be updated and tightened, potentially bringing more products under scrutiny [2][4]. This approach suggests that while the placement/promotion restrictions may be repealed, advertising and reformulation regulations will remain important.
Impact on Businesses
For businesses, this repeal and the shift to outcome-based regulation represent both relief from some immediate restrictions, such as avoidance of strict aisle placement and multibuy bans, and a shift towards longer-term transparency and reformulation obligations. Companies will need to adapt to new mandatory reporting requirements and may face stricter definitions of HFSS products, impacting product development and marketing strategies [1][2].
Additional Regulatory Developments
The UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme is set to go ahead, but further details are not provided in the given text. The government's food strategy for England, published on 15th July 2025, aims to create a healthier, more affordable, sustainable, and resilient food system. The government also intends to bring alcohol labelling in line with existing health and nutritional labelling requirements for tobacco, food, and alcohol-free drinks [5].
In Wales, the Welsh government has published guidance on the Food (Promotion and Presentation) (Wales) Regulations 2025, which restricts the promotion of HFSS food products [6]. Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed that certain "meaty" names for products should be reserved for products exclusively derived from those meats at all stages of marketing. The proposal would ban 29 meat-related terms, including "beef", "pork", "chicken", "lamb", and "bacon", from being used in relation to plant-based alternatives [7].
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is encouraging CBD businesses to reformulate their products to improve consumer safety, following new evidence published by the FSA's independent scientific advisory committees. The FSA has updated the provisional acceptable daily intake (ADI) for an adult to 10mg of CBD and 0.07mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per day [8].
References
- Gov.uk: NHS 10-Year Plan
- Food Standards Agency: HFSS restrictions
- Food Standards Agency: HFSS restrictions update
- Food Standards Agency: Nutrient Profiling Model
- Gov.uk: Food Strategy for England
- Welsh Government: Food (Promotion and Presentation) (Wales) Regulations 2025
- European Commission: Protecting traditional meat names
- Food Standards Agency: CBD updates
- The UK Government's decision to repeal the HFSS restrictions in England's food law is part of the NHS 10-Year Health Plan, focusing on increasing transparency and sales of healthier foods.
- Instead of strict product placement and promotion bans, large companies will now be required to report mandatory health food sales data.
- To meet the new targets, companies can reformulate products, innovate healthier options, or modify incentive schemes.
- The Nutrient Profiling Model for defining HFSS products will be updated and tightened, potentially including more products under scrutiny.
- The repeal of the restrictions and the shift to outcome-based regulation represent both a relief from immediate restrictions for businesses and a longer-term commitment to transparency and reformulation obligations.
- The UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme is planned, but further details are not provided in the given text.
- In education and self-development, the Food Standards Agency is encouraging CBD businesses to reformulate their products to improve consumer safety following new evidence.
