The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021
Restricting the promotion of products high in fat, salt and sugar
This came into force on 1 October 2022
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 restrict the promotion of prepacked food and drink that are high in fat, salt and sugar through:
- location in store (by check outs and promotional ends) or equivalent locations online (home page, checkout)
- volume promotion (such as buy one get one free) – certain meal deals and money off promotions are permitted
Do the regulations apply to your business?
Check if the following regulations apply:
- is the food you sell pre-packed and/or do you offer free drinks refills?
- does your business have 50 or more employees (on 1 April of the financial year)? Restrictions on location apply to retail stores over 185.8 square metres (or 2,000 sq. ft) in size
- is the food one of the 13 categories of food and drink listed in the regulations?
- referencing the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is the food defined as ‘less healthy’ (score ≥1 drinks ≥ 4 food)? (e.g. porridge oats have a low score however golden syrup flavour instant oats would be ≥ 4 and ‘less healthy’)
The following restrictions on location (from 1 October 2022)
Specified foods cannot be placed in the following areas:
- within 15m of store entrances (or the distance calculated used the formula √(0.03 x relevant floor area) whichever is smaller)
- within 2m of the checkout facility
- within 2m of designated queuing areas
- aisle/gondola ends
- a separate structure such as a free-standing fridge or freezer unit, bin or clip strip connected to, adjacent to or within 50cm of an aisle end
- a covered external area (lobby)
- equivalent locations online (home page and checkout)
Restrictions on volume promotion (from 1 October 2023)
The following restrictions on volume promotion:
- multi-buy offers such as ‘3 for 2’ or ‘3 for £10
- offers that indicate an item or part of an item is free e.g. ‘BOGOF’ or ‘50% extra free’
- an equivalent incentive such as a disproportionately high number of loyalty points when an item or deal is purchased
Restrictions on drinks refills also come into force in 2023. These apply to free refills of sugar-sweetened beverages (not alcoholic drinks > 1.2% ABV, sweetened drinks with an NPM score under 1, plain water or drinks with no added sugar).
Categories of specific foods
The 13 categories of specified foods are:
- soft drinks with added sugar such as squash with sugar, milkshakes
- crisps and savoury
- breakfast cereals
- confectionery including chocolate and jelly sweets
- ice cream and frozen yoghurt
- cakes and cupcakes
- sweet biscuits
- morning goods (croissants, pastries, enriched bread)
- puddings and dairy desserts
- sweetened yoghurt and fromage frais
- pizza (except plain pizza bases)
- potato products such as chips, fries, waffles
- ready meals and breaded/battered products