Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of food labelling (a) of trans fats in food and (b) generally.

The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, whether that be mandatory or voluntary, so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy.

All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food.

Food law provides a robust framework that protects public health and requires food businesses that produce, process, and distribute food to apply food safety controls that ensure food they place on the market is safe.

An assessment of the prevalence or labelling of trans fats in food in the UK has not been recently undertaken.

The most recent data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey, collected between 2016 and 2019, show that average trans fat intakes in the UK are 0.5-0.6% of total energy intake for adults, and 0.5% for children. This is well within the UK recommended maximum of no more than 2% of total energy.

Trans fat intakes in the UK have declined substantially since the 1980s and 1990s due to the voluntary removal of artificial trans fats from processed foods by the food industry; with some additional work to reduce levels of trans fats in food being undertaken between 2011 and 2013.