This event took place on Tuesday 7 February. You can watch the recording below.

On 7 February 2023, Nesta convened leading experts across the food, policy and advocacy spectrum to discuss the future of food and how reformulation (adapting recipes or manufacturing processes to make food healthier) could reduce obesity levels in the UK.

The event was held to mark two pieces of new Nesta research. In a new technical report, our healthy life team used mathematical modelling to estimate how many calories we need to reduce from our diets to halve the prevalence of obesity. Alongside this, new research by Nesta looked at the role reformulation could play in helping the population consume fewer calories. By changing ingredients, recipes or technologies used in food production, the food industry could make it easier for people to consume fewer calories and lead a healthier life.

We were joined by a panel of leading voices in the food and health industry, including Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon and author of the National Food Strategy; Katharine Jenner, Director at Obesity Health Alliance; Jordan Cummins, Programme Director at CBI Health; Dr Alison Tedstone, former government chief nutritionist and Hugo Harper, Director of Nesta’s healthy life mission.

Hugo Harper opened the discussion by outlining Nesta’s recent report on reformulation. The report found that reducing the calorie content of foods such as cakes, pastries and condiments by 10% would reduce the average person’s calorie intake by 38 calories, removing around one billion calories from the national diet. Most people won’t notice any change in the products they consume, but the overall health effect is significant – halving obesity in the UK would return it to a rate last seen in 1992 when it was around 14%, saving the NHS around £3.25 billion per year.

Henry Dimbleby reflected on the scale of the obesity challenge in the UK and the impact that rising obesity will have not only have on our individual health but the NHS, the economy and beyond — experts predict that by 2035, the NHS will be spending 17% of its entire budget on diabetes. Yet despite the growing crisis, government and policy is yet to find the answer to the UK’s obesity problem. With food companies driven by commercial goals, our environments are becoming increasingly flooded by food that’s high in fat, sugar and salt, low in fibre and dense in calories. It’s up to the government and food companies to work together, Henry argued, to break that incentive and allow interventions such as reformulation.

Our panel discussed hurdles, progress and solutions for government and industry. More taxation and levies to incentivise companies to reformulate food, which can then be re-invested elsewhere, will be key. However, we also need coordination across government and industry. Small changes to calorie consumption can make a big difference when supported by other targeted actions. The UK will need to bring together government regulations and interventions such as advertising and promotion bans, industry transparency and support and a general willingness across the population to curb the UK’s obesity crisis.

At Nesta, our healthy life mission team is aiming to halve the prevalence of obesity by 2030, by working with decision-makers across government and industry to improve the UK’s food environments.

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speakers. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.