Investors call for urgent introduction of mandatory health reporting and healthy sales targets

Investors urge government to swiftly implement mandatory health reporting and healthy sales targets for all large food businesses

A group of 23 investors managing $1.33 trillion call for rapid and robust implementation of the UK government’s plan to make disclosures and target setting around healthy food sales mandatory in its 10-Year NHS Health Plan 

Key points: 

• Major investors have issued a statement backing the UK Government’s plan to mandate large food companies to report and set targets on the healthiness of their sales; 
• Investors are urging the Government to adopt clear, science-based metrics and cover all large food businesses within the scope of the policy; 
• Signatories of the statement include BNP Paribas Asset Management, Greenbank Investments, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund and Nest; 
• Their statement calls for robust implementation of mandatory measures as essential to protecting public health, economic productivity, and long-term investment returns.

Investors with holdings in major food companies have today thrown their weight behind the UK Government’s plan to mandate transparency on sales of unhealthy food by requiring food businesses to report and set targets on the healthiness of their sales, calling it a crucial step towards fixing the UK’s broken food system.

The investor group – including members of ShareAction’s Long-term Investors in People’s Health coalition and The Food Foundation’s Investor Coalition for Food Policy – is urging the government in a statement to prescribe robust metrics for companies’ obligatory reporting and targets based on public health expertise, existing work by the Food and Data Transparency Partnership as well as best practice from food companies.

Investors are also calling for the policy to cover all large food companies including food manufacturers, retailers, and the out-of-home sector, to ensure it meaningfully tackles the wider public health challenges facing the UK and to ensure it is adequately enforced.  

Managing $1.33 trillion in assets, the 23 investor signatories of the statement include BNP Paribas Asset Management, Greenbank Investments, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund and Nest.

Sophie Lawrence, Stewardship and Engagement Lead at Greenbank Investments, said: "Greenbank Investments strongly welcomes the publication of the 10-year health plan and particularly the commitment that large food businesses will be mandated to report against standardised metrics on healthy food sales.

"It is something we have been engaging with the UK government to introduce since 2021 as part of the Investor Coalition on Food Policy.

"It is crucial more is done to address the growing economic risks linked to worsening diet-related health and this marks a positive step forward.

"Many of the issues facing the food industry are too wide-ranging and complex for individual companies to effectively address in isolation, while voluntary government schemes have consistently failed to deliver on promises of improved health outcomes."

Unhealthy food is fuelling a public health crisis with spiralling financial costs. A recent report published by Nesta found that in the UK alone, the total estimated cost of obesity and overweight is £126 billion a year by 2025, including £30.8 billion in lost productivity.

As long-term stewards of capital, investors warn that inaction on food health risks is no longer an option. Poor diets threaten not just lives, but also economic growth, business performance, and investor returns. 

Investors in ShareAction’s LIPH programme have spent years pushing companies like Tesco, Unilever and Nestlé to improve how they report on and increase the healthiness of their food sales. However, progress across the entire food and beverages sector has been slow and uneven.

Mandatory measures, they argue, are now essential to drive consistent action and hold companies to account. To be effective, the policy must include mandating transparent reporting based on internationally recognised metrics, such as the UK Nutrient Profiling Model, and measuring the proportion of sales that are healthy versus unhealthy, as well as the average healthiness of sales.

The group is requesting to meet with Government officials to discuss further details of the plan in the coming months.

They argue that by setting a clear standard based on robust metrics and ambitious targets, the UK has the opportunity to set a precedent for other countries, contributing to growing international momentum towards a healthier and more transparent global food system.

Baroness Walmsley, Chair of the 2024 House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity, and recently-appointed Honorary Ambassador to the Investor Coalition on Food Policy, said: "During our work on the Select Committee, we repeatedly heard about the mounting economic costs of diet-related disease, and how these are creating financial material risks for companies and the investors in these companies.

"The misplaced focus on voluntary mechanisms and individual responsibility that have been at the heart of successive governments' policies to tackle obesity have failed to address diet-related ill-health.

"It is clear that mandatory regulation of our complex food industry is now needed so that we can move to a healthy, sustainable and affordable food system that supports our economy.

"There is already broad support for mandatory reporting amongst the business and investor communities. Therefore, I very much welcome the government's commitment to mandate standardised reporting on healthy food sales, which was one of the principal recommendations we highlighted in our Report: Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system."

Garance Boullenger, Healthy Markets Initiative Lead at ShareAction said: "Transparency and ambitious targets are fundamental to shifting the food system to make healthier diets more accessible, which in turn will help make our economy healthier.

"Voluntary action alone is failing to deliver the change we need. Mandatory reporting and target-setting will level the playing field and give investors the data they need, driving healthier choices for everyone."

Sarah Buszard, Responsible Investor Lead at The Food Foundation, said: "Mandatory reporting for all large food businesses could be a gamechanger for the UK's health. This simple act of transparency unlocks system change.

"If done correctly, it is an opportunity to stop businesses bombarding us with unhealthy options and means investors will have the information needed to make decisions that benefit both citizens and shareholders.

"We hope government takes the steps needed to ensure this is a watershed moment in creating a level playing field for businesses and building the foundations for a food industry that promotes health and sustainability."

NOTES TO EDITORS:
For more information or to request interviews, please contact the ShareAction press office at press@shareaction.org or call 0207 183 4184.

The statement can be read in full here alongside the full list of signatories.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter/X: @Food_Foundation 
Instagram: food.foundation
LinkedIn: The Food Foundation
Bluesky: The Food Foundation
Tiktok: thefoodfoundation
YouTube: @foodfoundation91

The Food Foundation Podcast
For in-depth analysis and lived experiences listen to our podcast

ABOUT THE FOOD FOUNDATION
The Food Foundation is a charity working to influence food policy and business practice, shaping a sustainable food system which makes healthy diets affordable and accessible for all. We work in partnership with researchers, campaigners, community bodies, industry, investors, government and citizens to galvanise the UK’s diverse agents of change, using surprising and inventive ideas to drive fundamental shifts in our food system. These efforts are based on the continual re-evaluation of opportunities for action, building and synthesising strong evidence, convening powerful coalitions, harnessing citizens’ voices and delivering impactful communications.        
Registered Charity Number 1187611.

ABOUT THE INVESTOR COALITION ON FOOD POLICY
The Investor Coalition on Food Policy exists to harness the power of the investment community to engage with the UK government on food system related issues. The Coalition has a priority focus on well-designed regulation which is required to support the creation of a healthy, sustainable and affordable food system.

ABOUT SHAREACTION
ShareAction is an NGO working to shape a world where the financial system serves our planet and its people. We mobilise global investors to use their influence to drive up labour standards, tackle climate change, protect the natural world, and improve people’s health. We push policymakers to ensure the financial system is working in the best interests of society. We work with people to create a movement for change. Visit shareaction.org or follow us @ShareAction to find out more.

ShareAction’s Healthy Markets team works with investors to urge the food industry to lead the drive for healthier food options for all. Our coalition calls on food and drink companies to report transparently around the healthiness of their portfolios as well as to set ambitious targets to reduce overreliance on sales of high fat, sugar and salt products.