Food policy expert gives evidence to the House of Lords

Professor Christina Vogel, Director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, gave evidence to the House of Lords’ Food, Diet and Obesity Committee on 21 March as part of its inquiry into the impact of ultra-processed food on obesity.

During the session, Professor Vogel, who is also a registered nutritionist, discussed a wide range of issues, including the role of advertising and marketing, the influence of the food industry, and regulation strategies.

Influence of the food industry

In responding to Chair Liberal Democrat Baroness Walmsley, who asked about the influence of the food industry on dietary trends, Professor Vogel said that the food industry has considerable influence and that the UK’s food habits and places where people acquire their food do not meet Eat Well guidelines, including a notable lack of fibre, fruit, and vegetables. She noted the doubling of obesity levels in 30 years and stressed that poor diet and obesity impact those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Professor Vogel argued that these trends are not attributed to the individual, but instead, these companies are focused on “aggressively selling” food that is high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) to families. She added that citizens have been excluded from policy research and argued that families do know how to eat well.

Government regulation

When asked by Conservative Lord Colgrain about the nature of the Government’s approach to regulation, and its effectiveness, Professor Vogel discussed evidence on the Food (Promotions and Placement) regulations which came into effect in October 2022. She argued that there are currently loopholes within the legislation that are being exploited by companies to continue promoting unhealthy foods and that there was insufficient resourcing for enforcement by local authorities. Professor Vogel concluded that as a result there is uneven implementation, although she also referenced research that found that legislation has resulted in some reformulation of less healthy products, notably the introduction of wholegrains to snacks and pizzas.

In terms of potential solutions, Professor Vogel suggested that regulatory rules be revisited by parliament regularly, and she said the UK’s labelling rules are weak and criticised the voluntary front-of-pack approach.

Role of advertising and marketing

Finally, Crossbench Lord Krebs asked how food marketing influences dietary trends, notably junk food watersheds and product placement. Professor Vogel said that increasing the availability of healthy items can be beneficial, but this is challenging to do in real-world settings due to the vast and ubiquitous availability of unhealthy foods.

With regard to the transnational corporations that comprise the food industry, Professor Vogel added that these corporations are concentrated and focused on making profits from HFSS foods; poor dietary trends are one of the main consequences of this free market approach.

Speaking about the session, Professor Vogel said:

It was an honour to be invited to give oral evidence and share our research findings with the House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity. I look forward to seeing the Committee’s report and hope that we see it translate into stronger government policy that enables a healthy diet to be available and affordable to everyone in Britain.