The Neverland of diet policy

With news this week that the World Health Organisation (WHO) no longer approves of non-nutritive sweeteners – despite advising them as a sugar replacer in 2022 – it made me wonder whether dietary recommendations are now getting too far ahead of consumer engagement.

We are all familiar with the usual exhortations to eat less fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, as well as boosting fibre, fruits and vegetables. Add to that the ramping up of the plant-based agenda, demanding that we reduce our red meat consumption to less than one serving a week and limit poultry, fish and dairy foods. But where are consumers in all of this?

Sitting on the fence, it would seem. When surveyed, consumers say they are interested in eating more plant-based foods and they certainly appear to be eating less red meat, although these figures don't account for all out of home consumption. Yet, 7 in 10 British adults still class themselves as meat eaters while poultry consumption continues to rise.

At the same time, more consumers are turning to ultra-processed meals, snacks and out-of-home options to save cooking at home, resulting in stubbornly high intakes of saturated fat, salt, sugar and energy, not to mention a serious lack of fibre, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats.

Turning to sugar, again intakes have been falling as the UK sugar tax on sweetened beverages takes effect, but this has been a modest shift from around 13% energy from sugars to 10% on average – still far from the 5% target set by government in 2015. The limited success of the sugar tax was almost entirely due to replacement of sucrose with non-nutritive sweeteners since consumers have simply switched 400ml of sugary drinks each week for the same amount of Diet drinks, according to the UK Family Food Survey. If the WHO policy to discourage use of sweeteners had come in earlier, perhaps this change may not have happened.

This brings me to the growing suspicion that international dietary policy is now occupying a spot, alongside unicorns, in JM Barrie's Neverland – a place where consumers happily munch on beans, pulses, cereals and vegetables washed down with tap water. Meanwhile, in the real world, consumers are choosing diets that meet their expectations for taste, cost and convenience but the result is a nutritional timebomb. Will policy makers wake up in time before the nation's health reaches crisis point?

One answer to this is to ensure that policy brings consumers with it by offering 'good, better and best' options for making sustainable diet changes. Tap water, low fat plain yogurt, carrot sticks and fruit – options commonly recommended by diet officials – may be the go-to for some who are already on the path to health but not for many, many others. Instead, it may be that a sweetened yogurt is a better option for someone intending to eat a chocolate mousse, or giving the family a homecooked beef bolognaise is more nutritious than an expensive, processed plant-based option.

Failing to bring consumers on the journey to diet nirvana will only result in frustration for policymakers but, more importantly, stagnant health and well-being for our ageing populations.