The market analysis firm says that UK sales of calories, sugar and saturated fat have all outpaced general food sales, despite ongoing economic pressure. Indeed, those with the lowest disposable income tend to buy the most calories.
Kantar Worldpanel director Giles Quick suggests that shock tactics may make a difference.
“Shock tactics: It worked with tobacco advertising, a very different category with different consequences, but nevertheless, maybe we can learn some lessons from some of the success of tobacco advertising and shock people into some sort of change,” he said.
Quick highlighted the challenge of reducing calorie supply by 5%, as outlined in the UK government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal, while the calorie density of the foods that British consumers choose continues to increase.
“At the moment maybe we've danced around the edges too nicely. The government needs to be more forceful in pushing consumers into positive action,” he said.
Quick also highlighted other potential tools for tackling overweight and obesity, including changing prices to encourage and discourage certain foods, improving access to healthy options, and ensuring clear nutrition labelling.
“Fiscal policy can help. We know that people are motivated by price,” he said. “Using price to encourage or discourage our choices will help.”
He pointed out that food choices in the supermarket tend to be made very quickly, in as little as 10 seconds, so nutrition labelling needs to be easy to understand at a glance.
“Ensuring that labelling is very, very simple and drives quick and simple choices within each category…An immediate sign as to which the healthiest line is will help,” he said.