College comments on restrictions on promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS)

College comments on restrictions on promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS)

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (“the College”) has responded to the Scottish Government’s announcement earlier this week of plans to restrict the promotions on food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS). The plans were announced as the Scottish Government also published a population health framework which identified tackling obesity as a key policy priority.

Speaking today Professor Andrew Elder, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

The College welcomes the Scottish Government’s decision to move ahead with restrictions on the promotions of unhealthy food and drink in relation to multibuys, unlimited refills of sugary drinks and location-based promotions in shops. These are positive measures which we have supported consistently and which have the potential to reduce the intake of unhealthier products and lower obesity rates. It is critically important that levels of obesity in the population are tackled as the obesity-related disease burden- and associated pressures on our health service- are so significant. 

While we are disappointed that the Scottish Government has decided not to progress restrictions on meal deals and temporary price reductions at this stage, we hope it will keep these areas under consideration and look again at the evidence around them in the future. 

In addition, we urge the Scottish Government to work closely with retailers and manufacturers to incentivise them to increase promotions of healthier foods and increase consumer access to these products.

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The Scottish Government's proposals are available here: Restricting promotion of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt: consultation analysis - SG response - gov.scot