Government plans for big food firms to help fight obesity have suffered a setback because many companies are ignoring its plea to cut the amount of fat, salt or sugar in their products.
Coca-Cola, Kellogg, Danone and other major food and drink producers have shunned health secretary Andrew Lansley's appeal to make their products less energy-dense to help meet his target of people in England consuming 5bn fewer calories a day.
Sainsbury, Kraft Foods, Nestlé, Tate & Lyle and Unilever have also declined to sign up to a joint pledge on calorie reduction. Some firms fear that, unless all food producers undertake reformulation of their products simultaneously, those which do might see consumers rejecting their products in favour of tastier unchanged alternatives. But Pepsico, whose core brands are Walkers, Quaker, Tropicana and Pepsi, will be signing up.
The non-co-operation of most companies casts serious doubt over the future of Lansley's controversial Public Health Responsibility Deal. It has been criticised for letting food firms dodge their public health responsibilities too easily by agreeing to make voluntary pledges of only limited action in return for a promise that ministers will not legislate to impose tougher rules.
Last October, when launching the coalition's "call to action" on obesity, Lansley stressed that he was "now challenging business to help us make even greater progress. Reducing the number of calories we consume is essential. It can happen if we continue action to reduce calories in everyday foods and drinks, and if all of us who are overweight take simple steps to reduce our calorie intake," he said.
The pledge involves firms agreeing to implement one or more of a "menu of options", including "recipe/menu changes to decrease energy density", such as "fat and sugar reduced in products, or substituted with other lower calorie ingredients"; smaller portion sizes; low-calorie options, such as 99-calorie chocolate bars; and making crisps and pre-cooked chips by using "baking" technology rather than by traditional deep frying.
The Department of Health (DH) hoped to hold a high-profile event last week to mark the Responsibility Deal's first year and announce a host of big food manufacturers as "momentum-building exemplars" that would implement the calorie reduction pledge. That has been delayed until later this week while further negotiations continue.
But at a recent meeting of the Responsibility Deal Food Network, in which firms and the DH discuss pledges, some producers voiced fears that reformulating their products could put them at a commercial disadvantage.
Professor Susan Jebb, the government's adviser on obesity, had written to firms that "the calorie reduction pledge presents a major opportunity for the food and drink industry to play its part in supporting the population in achieving a healthier weight".
"The food industry says it wants to become part of the solution, rather than just part of the problem," said Jack Winkler, a professor of nutrition policy and expert on the food industry. "The government offered them an opportunity to do so. But it looks like many of the big players have turned it down.
"If it turns out to be true that many of the biggest food companies have refused to sign up to the 'calorie reduction' deal, that would be evasive irresponsibility by the industry, a failure for the government and a catastrophe for public health."
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said: "This is a huge embarrassment for the government and a big setback for the fight against obesity." Only legislation would ensure foods became healthier, Fry added.
A spokeswoman fot the DH said: "We have had growing business interest in the calorie reduction pledge and will announce an update on this shortly. We will continue to work hard to work with even more businesses, sign them up to more pledges and get bigger results."
