The Department of Health and Social Care has announced the details of the Ten-Year Health Plan for England, which aims to improve the National Health Service and public health.
The plan, set out today (3rd July), outlines several commitments that will affect the convenience sector and the way in which retailers run their stores.
New Commitments
The plan aims to tackle harmful alcohol consumption by introducing new standards for alcohol labelling. There will be a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages, which will reflect existing health and nutritional labelling requirements for tobacco, food, and alcohol-free drinks. The government will also consult on restricting access to no and low-alcohol products, including banning sales to under 18 year-olds, and changing the upper strength threshold at which a drink may be described as alcohol free to 0.5% ABV.
Retailers should also expect to see an updated Nutrient Profiling Model, which helps food advertising and promotional restrictions to categorise which foods are more or less healthy. There will also be mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector to set new targets on how to increase the healthiness of sales across the country. Businesses will have the freedom to work out how to achieve the target, such as layout changes or customer incentive and loyalty schemes.
Existing Commitments
The government is continuing plans to introduce restrictions on volume price promotions that retailers can offer, as part of the HFSS promotion restriction regulations coming into force on 1st October 2025. It is also re-affirmed its plans to restrict the sale of energy drinks to under16s and to strengthen the soft drink industry levy.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Our members have been preparing for many of the changes outlined in the Ten Year Health Plan, and we are looking forward to working with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that commitments outlined in the plan are rolled out effectively, ensuring that retailers are able to get plenty of notice for the changes they will be making to their stores.”
We expect the policy detail of these restrictions to be consulted on shortly and ACS will update members on further developments.
If you have any questions about the plan, please contact Public Affairs Manager [email protected]
More information is available on the gov.uk website here.
