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Five major UK food and drink manufacturers are to begin voluntarily reporting healthy food sales data next year, ahead of any mandatory government requirement.
Carlsberg Britvic, Danone North Europe, KP Snacks, Nomad Foods and Premier Foods have committed to publishing their healthy food sales data from 2027, covering sales made during 2026.
The companies are also calling on the UK Government to introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for large food and drink businesses during the current parliamentary term.
The initiative, coordinated by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), is intended to create a more consistent and transparent way of measuring progress towards healthier diets across the food system.
Under the voluntary commitment, participating manufacturers will publish their 2026 sales-weighted average Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2004 score. The model currently underpins the UK's restrictions on the promotion and advertising of foods classified as high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS).
The FDF said using the existing NPM would allow companies to begin reporting quickly, as the methodology is already incorporated into business systems.
FDF chief executive Karen Betts said: “Food and drink manufacturers have a strong track record of making everyday foods better for us, and we're determined to keep that progress going. That’s why we're not waiting for regulation, but starting to report now on data that companies already hold.”
Betts added that the initial group of manufacturers would help test approaches to collecting and reporting the data, with the aim of supporting the development of any future mandatory system.
Danone North Europe vice president general secretary Richard Hall said: “At Danone, we believe transparency is one of the best ways to drive progress on health. The more we collectively measure and share, the easier it is to see what’s working, where barriers remain and the opportunities to accelerate progress towards better health outcomes.”
Premier Foods director of environment, social and governance Nick Brown said food manufacturers could contribute to healthier diets through product reformulation, new product development and changes to marketing and sales practices.
“Through disclosure, we have the opportunity to demonstrate the progress we are making and where further progress can be achieved,” he said.
The FDF said its members' products contain 19% less sugar, 18% less salt and 17% fewer calories than five years ago, citing investment by manufacturers in reformulation and healthier product development.
The industry body also pointed to early evidence on the impact of HFSS restrictions. Research from the University of Leeds, cited by the FDF, found that sales of less healthy foods fell by around two million products per day between 2021 and 2023.
The proposed reporting framework is expected to face a number of practical challenges as more businesses participate. These include accounting for mergers and acquisitions and separating UK-specific data from companies' existing global reporting commitments.
The FDF said it expects the number of companies adopting voluntary reporting to increase as manufacturers gain experience with the approach.
The longer-term ambition is for healthy food sales reporting to extend beyond manufacturing to other parts of the food system.
The FDF said mandatory reporting across the sector would provide government with consistent data to assess the impact of health policies while creating an incentive for continued investment in healthier food and drink.
If introduced, the FDF said the UK would become the first country in the world to establish mandatory healthy food sales reporting across the food system.
