The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) member products contribute 10% fewer calories, 12% fewer sugars and 16% less salt to the average shopping basket compared to 2017, according to the latest data in FDF’s Celebrating Food and Nutrition Report.

The report showed that the average shopping basket in the UK is categorised as healthy. Furthermore, there has been a 14% reduction in the HFSS score for the total food and drink market since 2017.

This change was driven by innovation within companies in a bid to improve the nation’s diet using methods such as reformulating product recipes, providing appropriate portion sizes and bringing healthier options to the market.

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“Companies in our sector are committed to helping people and communities achieve healthier and more sustainable diets, and we are working hard to make our products better for people and better for the planet,” FDF’s chief executive Karen Betts said.

“This includes improving our product recipes, re-looking at portion sizes and improving the information available to shoppers about what they are buying.”

FDF chief scientific officer Kate Halliwell added: “These latest figures show the fantastic achievements the UK food and drink industry continues to deliver, throughout a challenging period of uncertainty, and we should celebrate this.

“Manufacturers have continued to innovate and bring new healthy and affordable products to market. This has had a real demonstrable impact on the average shopping basket, supporting the nation to have access to a healthy balanced diet.”

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