Recently, PepsiCo has announced it will be cutting back on the levels of salt fat & sugar by up to 25% across the globe by 2015. PepsiCo is not alone in reducing the amount of salt, sugar and fats from products. Kellogg is one of a number of leading manufacturers who have been improving their health credentials by reducing the salt content across brands such as Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes and Mars have been working on reformulating Mars bars for over five years.

For manufacturers the need to reduce salt, fat and sugar levels from its products poses a complex two-fold problem:
  • Introducing new healthier food options with a strong taste appeal & potentially a high nutritional value
  • Reformulating existing foods in to a healthier format with higher nutritional value whilst maintaining taste

Newly launched brands have already lead the way in providing healthy options with natural ingredients. However, for many older established brands consumers have already been buying into a taste, often for decades which rely on high salt, fat and sugar levels and this poses a real challenge. The challenge is not only time consuming from an R&D perspective but also involves the committing millions of pounds into the process.

In both the USA and increasingly in the UK there have been massive rises in the rates of diabetes caused by obesity.In the UK the Government has been involved in highlighting healthy living through its Change4Life campaign which is already celebrating its first anniversary. This is aimed at helping families to achieve and maintain a healthier lifestyle by promoting healthy habits that encourage them to eat well, move more and live longer. The campaign has seen over 400,000 families signing up to the campaign since its launch in February 2009. The last few months have seen Romania introduce a fast-food tax, and some US states increase sugared drink taxes.The EU’s European Health Alliance supports the Romanian’s Health Minister’s recently introduced ‘junk-food’ tax, and suggests it could serve as a model for other EU member states to emulate in years to come. American researchers published a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine on March 8th this year; which suggested sales tax could be used as a weapon in the fight against obesity, which costs the United States an estimated $147 billion a year in health costs. President Obama has said in the past he is open to such a tax.
 
It would appear that brand owners of products that might attract Fat Tax, can breathe a little easier for a while due to political and voting concerns of the governments but in the longer term  it seems inevitable to expect some regulation like "fat tax" imposed on many food manufacturers, so it is now that r&D people should start finding ways to make "healtier" products.

Compiled from two articles released by The Oxford Research Agency in the UK.