ADPH joins call to Government on ultra-processed food

We have joined over 20 leading health organisations in a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care calling on the Government to take urgent action to make healthy, minimally processed foods more accessible and affordable.

The call, organised by the Soil Association, echoes a recommendation made by the House of Lords Committee on Diet, Health and Obesity in its report, Recipe for Health: A Plan to Fix our Broken Food System.

Gerry Taylor, Chair of ADPH’s Advisory Group on Commercial Determinants of Health, said:

“The public is constantly bombarded by advertising for cheap, ultra-processed snacks, drinks, and foods that are labelled as ‘healthy,’ even though they are often high in sugar and low in nutritional value. Truly healthy food and drink are around three times more expensive, which makes them unaffordable and contributes to an increasingly unhealthy food environment and rise in a range of avoidable health issues including living with obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

“There has been recent progress, such as restricting junk food advertising on TV before 9pm and online at any time, the upcoming multibuy promotion ban, and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on sugary drinks.

“However, these measures don’t yet go far enough and any new food strategy must address these issues so that everyone, regardless of where they live or how much money they earn, has access to affordable healthy food and drink.”