Ultra-processed Food

Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate Excerpts

Thursday 26th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a very good point. A healthy start to life is vital, which is why I am very pleased to say that we have the highest level of free school meals ever, with every infant school kid and a third of children overall having a free school meal. On the composition of those foods, I know that this was planned but was stopped due to Covid. The timing is now being reviewed again, because things move on in terms of the content and healthy foods.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, most people would be very concerned to know what ultra-processed food means. People who rely on staples such as bread, cereals, sausages, gravy, fruit juice, baked beans and biscuits would be very surprised to hear us talking about those as ultra-processed food and how bad it is for you. Some people say that five ingredients or more puts food into this category. While we should encourage vegetables, fruit and fresh food of various kinds being eaten, does my noble friend not agree that we are alarming the public too much if we deny them the staples that they are used to?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

That is absolutely correct. My understanding is that ultra-processed foods make up, on average, 60% of a person’s diet. If you were to try a blanket ban, it would have a massive impact. I think we all agree that it is important that we try to discourage things that are bad in ultra-processed food, not ultra-processed food per se. As I have said many times, there are many types of ultra-processed food that we encourage, such as wholemeal bread and many of the cereals.