Reformulate with care

Public Health England has been busy, with its latest report noting that companies should reduce sugar by 200,000 tonnes per year until 2020, using a voluntary guideline. Dr Alison Tedstone, director of diet and obesity at Public Health England, says that for example, bread contains 40% less salt than 10 years ago, and nobody has really noticed.

The issue is, the food industry has already been working hard to reduce sugar, and will no doubt manage to reduce it by a large amount over the coming years. Parents and consumers are getting the message about lowering their and their children’s sugar intake in order to keep obesity at bay, and are demanding lower sugar, lower salt, and more natural products. For example, Müller Milk’s Frijj milkshake line has already undergone reformulation in the UK, with a zero added sugar range in chocolate, strawberry, and mango and passionfruit. This is a further reduction from its previous 40% less sugar product.

In the case of dairy, it is all aboout balancing nutrition with taste. Milkshakes and ice cream and flavoured yogurts are all good ways to get a lot of nutrition into a child, with very few complaints. There is research showing that yogurt may actually aid in helping with removing fat from the body and cheese is always welcome. Dairy products pack an awful lot of goodness into relatively small packages and flavour always has to be a factor.

Going forward, portion sizes will probably have to reduce, and this too is a good thing, but will no doubt require some package reworking. However, the government has to keep in mind that there is no point in making a low-sugar, low-salt, highly nutritional product if nobody eats it. Reformulation takes time and money, and rushing products to market often results in products being left on the shelf.

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