Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what new (1) evidence, or (2) research, has been (a) commissioned, or (b) submitted, regarding the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 since its approval in December 2021.

Regulations made on 2 December 2021 will require medium and large businesses, including those with 50 or more employees, to restrict volume price promotions such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ offers on high fat, salt or sugar products. Less healthy products in scope of the restrictions will also no longer be featured in key locations, such as checkouts, store entrances, aisle ends and their online equivalents. Free refills of sugary soft drinks will also be prohibited in the eating-out sector. These restrictions will come into force in October 2022.

The Restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar or salt by location and by volume price: implementation guidance was published in an online only format on 6 April 2022. The guidance was developed in collaboration with trade associations, businesses and local authorities, to provide further clarification on which businesses and which products are in scope of the Regulations to help businesses to plan ahead.

The Government is committed to reviewing the Regulations within five years of the Regulations coming into force. The National Institute for Health and Care’s Policy Research (NIHR) Programme has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research to assess the extent and nature of location-based promotions of food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar in supermarkets in England. Officials are developing further plans to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of this policy.