§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to bring forward legislation on the reduction of the salt content of processed food if the food industry does not introduce voluntary measures. [122803]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThere are no plans to do so at present. The Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency have been in ongoing discussions with food manufacturers and retailers about the levels of salt in specific categories of processed foods, reductions that have been made in the past and the opportunities for further reductions. The principal bodies that have been involved are the Food and Drink Federation, the British Retail Consortium, the British Frozen Food Federation and the Joint Food Service Industry Group.
All of the organisations have approached discussions constructively, with a focus on verifying and recognising salt reductions already achieved by industry and investigating the scope for achieving further reductions.