Draft recommendations on promotion of lower-fat products including dairy products, fat and saturated fat reductions for meat products, and portion size availability for savoury snacks (Scotland) (The Food Standards Agency)

This consultation started on 2nd December 2009 and ends on 9th March 2010.

The Agency's final saturated fat and energy intake programme was published in February 2008. This programme outlines the actions needed to help consumers reduce saturated fat intakes and balance the amount of calories they consume with their needs.

The programme identifies four areas for action:

improving consumer awareness and understanding of healthy eating with particular focus on the impact of saturated fat on healthencouraging promotion and uptake of healthier optionsencouraging accessibility of smaller food portion sizesencouraging voluntary reformulation of mainstream products to reduce saturated fat and energy

All four areas require the Agency to work in partnership with its stakeholders, including health departments, food industry (which encompasses the whole food chain including food producers, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and caterers) and other non-government organisations. Each area is discussed in greater detail in the final programme see link below.

This consultation focuses on the reformulation, promotion and portion size elements of the programme and proposes voluntary recommendations for industry for reductions in levels of fat and saturated fat in meat products, increased availability of smaller single-portion savoury snacks, and increased promotion of lower-fat products including dairy products.

The food industry periodically changes ingredients and processes and the aim of these proposals is to develop guidance to indicate the direction for these changes to achieve improved public health.

In addition, the Agency is consulting on the scope to amend the compositional legislation for ice cream and cheddar cheese. The current Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (FLR) do not allow reformulated versions of these products that contain less than the specified fat contents to be marketed as ice cream and cheddar cheese. We are aware of the potential disincentive this is for food companies and that this has the potential to be a source of confusion for consumers. This consultation discusses potential amendments to the controls laid down in the FLR to remove these barriers. The intended effect is to allow industry greater flexibility and offer consumers a wider range of healthier options that are named in a more meaningful way and easier to understand.

This is the second public consultation seeking views on draft voluntary recommendations to industry. The first consultation on draft recommendations for saturated fat and added sugar reductions, increased availability of smaller single-portion sizes, and increased marketing of healthier versions for biscuits, cakes, pastries, buns, chocolate confectionery and soft drinks closed on 3 November 2009. A summary of responses and the finalised recommendations will be published next year.

Each of the proposals is discussed in greater detail in the main body of the consultation document.

We are seeking your views on the questions posed in the boxes that are outlined throughout the consultation document and the impact assessment. A summary of these questions can be found on page 22 see the full consultation package via the link below.

The following documents relating to this consultation are available: Summary and Annexes: Draft recommendations on promotion of lower-fat products, fat and saturated fat reductions (Scotland)

http://www.tellthemwhatyouthink.org/consultation/con-2708-draft-recommendations-snacks-scotland

seen at 12:52, 9 December in All consultations.