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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.

Speakers

Ravi Gurumurthy 2022 (3)

Ravi Gurumurthy, CEO, Nesta

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Ravi Gurumurthy joined Nesta as Chief Executive in December 2019. Ravi was previously responsible for the International Rescue Committee’s work in designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries - from reducing acute malnutrition and intimate partner violence, to expanding employment for Syrian refugees. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK Government, including Director of Strategy at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and as a strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary. Across many departments, Ravi led a number of major social and environmental reforms including the development of the world’s first legally-binding carbon emissions targets and the integration of children’s services. Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London.

Hugo Harper

Hugo Harper, Healthy life Mission Director, Nesta

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Hugo joins Nesta from The Behavioural Insights Team where he led their work on Health and Education, helping them grow from a small team in Cabinet Office, to a global organisation of more than 250 people. He has overseen projects with a wide range of partners including No10, government departments, large charities and private sector players. He has worked on all aspects of public health, from antimicrobial resistance to workplace wellbeing. Within public health, obesity is his specialist interest area. Since 2013 he has been a key advisor in the area, and has produced multiple field trials, lab studies, impact models and policy recommendations.

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Henry Dimbleby, Author of the National Food Strategy, co-founder of Leon and lead non-executive board member at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

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Henry Dimbleby was given the role of lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in March 2018. In June 2019 the Environment Secretary appointed Henry Dimbleby to lead the National Food Strategy, which he published in July 2021. Henry Dimbleby co-founded the Leon restaurant chain (2004). He was a co-founder of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (2009), the charity Chefs in Schools (2018) and co-authored The School Food Plan (2013), which set out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. Henry previously worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company (1995-2002) where he advised businesses on strategy, performance improvement and organisational design. Before that he worked as a journalist on The Daily Telegraph and a chef at the Michelin-starred Four Seasons Inn on the Park

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Katharine Jenner, Director, Obesity Health Alliance

She/Her

Registered Nutritionist Katharine Jenner (she/her) joined as Director the OHA in 2022 after fifteen years working with Consensus Action on Salt, Sugar and Health (CASSH). Katharine led the setting up of Action on Sugar, supported the implementation of the salt, sugar and calorie reduction policies as well as other key policies such as the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and Front of Pack Labelling, and is a Trustee of Sustain and Chair of the Children’s Food Campaign.

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Jordan Cummins, Programme Director, Health, CBI

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Jordan joined the CBI In 2014, following a role with the Ministry of Justice. In his seven years with the CBI, Jordan has held both commercial and policy roles, including Deputy London Director and Head of London Policy. In December 2021, he became the CBI’s first Health Director, leading a new programme and the CBI's engagement across DHSC, NHS, BEIS, OHID, UKHSA and HMT on industry priorities in health and life sciences. Jordan studied Law and Public Policy & Management at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, respectively. Jordan lives in South London and is active in local politics.

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Dr Alison Tedstone, Independent Advisor and Former government chief nutritionist

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Dr Alison Tedstone is an expert in the translation of evidence to policy making. She has many years’ of experience in the development, delivery and monitoring of nutrition and obesity policies. Alison retired from England’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in March 2022. There she was the Chief Nutritionist and led the nutrition programmes including the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, scientific advice (including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition) and actions to improve diet and promote physical activity. . She now chairs the Association for Nutrition and the osteoporosis guidelines committee for NICE. She has an MBE for services to public health.