Restricting promotion of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt: consultation analysis - SG response

Overall Conclusion

The primary aim of the policy is to reduce the public health harms associated with the excess consumption of calories, fat, sugar or salt, including the risks of developing type 2 diabetes, various types of cancer and other conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

Our food environment and the options available and promoted to us shape our health. Focusing on transforming the food environment is more likely to help improve diet and weight and be more effective in reducing health inequality than only encouraging individual behaviour change.

Restricting the promotion of less healthy food and drink is intended to shift the balance of promotions towards healthier options. Maximising the availability of healthier products on promotion will help improve the food environment which evidence indicates will contribute to improvements in population levels of healthy weight – in line with the priority of our Population Health Framework.

The Scottish Government is taking wide ranging action to improve diet and support people to be a healthy weight. Evidence is clear interventions that focus on improving the environment are more effective at reducing population levels of overweight and obesity than interventions that only focus on education and individual behaviour change. This is consistent with our Population Health Framework principle that we “change systems and environments to support individuals to stay healthy”.

Whilst acknowledging general support across all stakeholder groups for action to improve diet and healthy weight in Scotland, there was a mix of opinion on how extensive regulation to restrict HFSS promotions should be. Industry respondents set out a view that consistency with the regulations in England was important because it would reduce costs and the regulatory burden whereas public health and third sector stakeholders were keen that regulations were as comprehensive as possible to maximise public health impacts given Scotland’s high levels of overweight and obesity and the impact of this on health, the economy and public services including the NHS.

As set out public consultation respondents are self-selecting, and consultation responses are not necessarily representative of the views of the wider population. Individual responses to the consultation were mixed with general agreement on the need for actions but no consensus on what actions should look like. In January 2025 Food Standards Scotland wave 19 consumer tracking survey of a representative sample of 1009 adults set out that:

• 70% of participants agreed that there are too many promotional offers on foods high in fat, salt and sugar; and
• 54% of participants agreed that promotional offers on foods high in fat, sugar and salt should be banned (an increase of 5% from the wave 18 survey in mid 2024).

Scottish Ministers considered a broad range of evidence in reaching their decision to take action to shift the balance of promotions towards healthier options and to be consistent with equivalent restrictions in place in England and Wales. The Scottish Government recognises that consistency of approach with England and Wales will help to minimise the regulatory burden on businesses helping to minimise the potential for pass through cost to consumers, which was a concern for individual respondents to the consultation.

The final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published as part of a full suite of impact assessments alongside the regulations giving effect to Scottish Ministers’ decisions.

These proposals set out the key next steps that the Scottish Government will take to improve the food environment in Scotland. We will continue to explore what further action can be taken as part of our priority of Improving Healthy Weight through our Population Health Framework.