Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the provision of advice on plant-based diets by clinicians in primary care settings on (a) achieving the aim in the NHS Long Term Plan of supporting patients to adopt improved healthy behaviours and (b) the cost of health care.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) discussed the topic of plant-based diets at its horizon scan meetings in 2022 and 2024. The SACN concluded it is an important topic and will continue to grow in interest, particularly from a sustainability viewpoint. The SACN agreed to keep the topic on its watching brief. Meeting papers are available on the SACN’s website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/scientific-advisory-committee-on-nutrition#sacn-meetings

Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Eatwell Guide depicts a diet that is based on fruit, vegetables, and higher fibre starchy carbohydrates. It divides the foods and drinks we consume into five main groups and illustrates that both animal products and plant-based products can be part of a healthy balanced diet. Further information on the Eatwell Guide is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide

These Eatwell Guide nutrition principles underpin the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF). Hospitals, the Government, and their agencies are required to apply the GBSF, with other public sector settings also encouraged to follow. Further information on the GBSF is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-procurement-the-gbs-for-food-and-catering-services

Adherence to the Eatwell Guide has been shown to significantly improve both health and environmental outcomes, as per the 2020 Scheelbeek et al. study, with appreciably lower environmental impact than the current UK diet, as noted in 2016 by the Carbon Trust. Further information on the Scheelbeek et al. study and the Carbon Trust’s analysis is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e037554

https://www.carbontrust.com/our-work-and-impact/guides-reports-and-tools/the-eatwell-guide-a-more-sustainable-diet

Given that most people in the UK do not currently follow a diet in line with Government’s dietary recommendations, moving the population to dietary intakes in line with the Eatwell Guide remains the priority.

The Government recognises the valuable contribution that plant-based foods and drinks can make to people’s diets, alongside the contribution that fish and animal-based foods and drinks can make. Health care professionals in primary care settings are expected to provide a wide range of advice and support to patients that is based around their clinical needs. This advice should be based on robust clinical evidence and should allow patients freedom of choice over the way their care is planned and delivered, which includes individual dietary requirements and preferences where appropriate.