Food labelling legislation means that pre-packaged food must include back of pack nutritional information. This includes total salt content.

In addition, food businesses can voluntarily provide nutritional information on the front-of-pack. Front-of-pack nutrition labelling helps to support healthier choices by showing complex nutritional information, including salt, to consumers in a way that is easy and quick to understand. The United Kingdom was one of the first to introduce a national front-of-pack labelling system, and the voluntary Multiple Traffic Light scheme has been in place across the UK since 2013. Manufacturers and retailers are encouraged to provide a label on as many of their products as possible where the information is meaningful for consumers.

We will continue to review the evidence on front-of-pack nutrition labelling and consider, with devolved administrations, whether further action is needed in the future. If changes to front-of-pack nutrition labelling are required, we will consult on proposed policy changes.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is still being negotiated and the final list of legislation in scope remains subject to negotiations. The Government has begun publishing sector specific information to help businesses get ready.

Changes to jam rules may require some businesses to change the composition or labelling of their products. The scale of these impacts on taste and cost will be dependent on the nature of the business, and type of jam products they produce. Hence the proportion of products affected, and the extent of change will vary, and in some cases, businesses may not need to change anything at all.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, and the Farming Roadmap published in June 2026, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how and where their food was produced.

To support this, we will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare. We will set out next steps in due course.

We will also continue to review origin labelling, using the outcomes of the Fairer Food Labelling consultation as supporting evidence for future labelling policy.

The UK is committed to full, faithful, and timely implementation of the Windsor Framework, including the 'Not for EU' labelling requirements of the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. Defra continually reviews compliance with the Windsor Framework to ensure the UK meets its international obligations.

The Government is negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU, the benefits of which will flow to movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This depends on the UK showing itself to be a trusted partner by continuing to faithfully implement its existing Windsor Framework commitments.

The new Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) aligns with the latest United Kingdom dietary recommendations, particularly on free sugars and fibre, ensuring it reflects current evidence and remains a robust, evidence-based tool for identifying less healthy foods.

The new NPM is based on a review of the UK NPM 2004/05 to reflect changes to UK dietary recommendations since its development, which was undertaken by the former Public Health England, with the advice of an independent expert group, the NPM Expert Group.

The NPM Expert Group agreed not to develop a model from first principles, including making modifications to the theoretical basis of the UK NPM 2004/05. This included changing the base from per 100 grams to per portion size, which was extensively considered during the development of the NPM 2004/05.

The evidence base and modelling underpinning the NPM 2018 was published as part of the 2018 consultation, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-uk-nutrient-profiling-model-2018-review

Following the consultation, the NPM Expert Group considered the feedback, undertook further modelling, and agreed a final updated NPM.

The Government published the new NPM on 27 January. This includes the NPM 2018 Review and Consultation Outcome, associated UK NPM technical guidance, the UK NPM Expert Group responses to the points raised in the 2018 consultation, and the further modelling undertaken by the UK NPM Expert Group.

The Government will always be guided by the evidence. This is the first update to the NPM in 20 years. There are no further updates to the model planned, including consideration of portion size.

The new Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) aligns with the latest United Kingdom dietary recommendations, particularly on free sugars and fibre, ensuring it reflects current evidence and remains a robust, evidence-based tool for identifying less healthy foods.

The new NPM is based on a review of the UK NPM 2004/05 to reflect changes to UK dietary recommendations since its development, which was undertaken by the former Public Health England, with the advice of an independent expert group, the NPM Expert Group.

The NPM Expert Group agreed not to develop a model from first principles, including making modifications to the theoretical basis of the UK NPM 2004/05. This included changing the base from per 100 grams to per portion size, which was extensively considered during the development of the NPM 2004/05.

The evidence base and modelling underpinning the NPM 2018 was published as part of the 2018 consultation, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-uk-nutrient-profiling-model-2018-review

Following the consultation, the NPM Expert Group considered the feedback, undertook further modelling, and agreed a final updated NPM.

The Government published the new NPM on 27 January. This includes the NPM 2018 Review and Consultation Outcome, associated UK NPM technical guidance, the UK NPM Expert Group responses to the points raised in the 2018 consultation, and the further modelling undertaken by the UK NPM Expert Group.

The Government will always be guided by the evidence. This is the first update to the NPM in 20 years. There are no further updates to the model planned, including consideration of portion size.

On 18 March, we published our report and impact assessment on copyright and AI. This set out where we will do more work with our creative and AI sectors. The Government recognises that labelling AI-generated content can improve transparency for consumers by helping them understand when content has been created using AI. This summer we will establish a taskforce on the labelling of AI‑generated content, which will publish an interim report in autumn 2026. Further details on the taskforce will be set out in due course.

On 18 March, we published our report and impact assessment on copyright and AI. This set out where we will do more work with our creative and AI sectors. The Government recognises that labelling AI-generated content can improve transparency for consumers by helping them understand when content has been created using AI. This summer we will establish a taskforce on the labelling of AI‑generated content, which will publish an interim report in autumn 2026. Further details on the taskforce will be set out in due course.

On 18 March, we published our report and impact assessment on copyright and AI. This set out where we will do more work with our creative and AI sectors. The Government recognises that labelling AI-generated content can improve transparency for consumers by helping them understand when content has been created using AI. This summer we will establish a taskforce on the labelling of AI‑generated content, which will publish an interim report in autumn 2026. Further details on the taskforce will be set out in due course.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is still being negotiated and the final list of legislation in scope remains subject to negotiations. This Government has begun publishing sector specific information to help businesses get ready.

As set out in this Government’s published information on legislation currently envisaged to be within scope of the SPS Agreement, alignment is expected to extend beyond the rules relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades. The areas currently identified include wider food information and consumer information requirements, nutrition labelling, nutrition and health claims, compositional standards and certain agri-food marketing standards.

The new Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is built on the latest science and has been updated in line with the latest dietary advice, particularly in relation to free sugars, which are more strongly correlated with poor health outcomes, including obesity.

The Government committed in the 10-Year Health Plan to updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink by applying the new NPM. Applying the new NPM to these policies is expected to reduce a further 110,000 cases of childhood obesity.

The NPM is used as part of a two-step process to determine ‘less healthy’ food or drink products in scope of the advertising and promotions restrictions. Products must first fall within one of the product categories in the legislation and second, score four or above for food, or one or above for drink in an NPM assessment. Confectionery, including chocolates and sweets, are one of the categories in scope of the restrictions.

We published the new NPM on 27 January 2026. On 25 March 2026, we launched a 12-week consultation seeking views on its proposed application to the advertising and promotions restrictions. The consultation closed on 17 June 2026. Alongside the consultation, we published a consultation-stage impact assessment, setting out the direct costs to businesses for the proposed application of the new NPM to these restrictions and invited views on this assessment.

We have engaged extensively with stakeholders throughout the consultation period and sought further evidence on the potential impacts of the proposals as part of the consultation process. We will use evidence from the consultation and our extensive engagement with stakeholders to inform final policy decisions and the final impact assessment, which will be published ahead of any legislative changes being made.

Under our current system, food imported from abroad, often from countries with lower standards, can be packaged in the UK but labelled as British. To stop “flagwashing”, and to back our British farmers, will the Minister back the Labour rural research group’s calls to introduce a mandatory labelling system, based on the blueprint set out by Australia’s country-of-origin labelling standard?

I thank my hon. Friend for his work on those important matters. This is about fairness for consumers and farmers. We want people to know where their food comes from, trust what they are buying, and back British farmers who meet our high standards. I would happily meet my hon. Friend to discuss his helpful ideas.

The labelling of packaged foods and drinks plays an important role in helping individuals access the information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy. Food labelling legislation sets out the information that must be displayed on a product’s labelling or packaging, including the ingredients list, the nutrition declaration, and any voluntary food information provided by businesses.

The key nutrients that must be included in the nutrition declaration on a mandatory basis, regardless of the amount, are the most relevant to current public health concerns in Great Britain at a population level. A standardised set of nutrients ensures consumers can easily compare products, and requiring too many nutrients to be included on a mandatory basis may complicate labels and make comparisons harder.

Our laws are clear: the UK has a zero-tolerance approach to asbestos in consumer products. Where it is identified, businesses that supplied affected products must recall them, taking all reasonable steps to identify and notify affected consumers, and publishing information to raise broader awareness. Local Authorities are overseeing product recalls led by businesses within their areas, ensuring these are effective and follow best practices. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and local authorities have powers to take further action where business actions are not effective in mitigating the risks. Recalls are published by OPSS on GOV.UK to further raise awareness.

The new Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) is built on the latest science and has been updated in line with the latest dietary advice, particularly in relation to free sugars, which are more strongly correlated with poor health outcomes, including obesity.

The Government committed in the 10-Year Health Plan to updating the standards behind the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink by applying the new NPM. Applying the new NPM to these policies is expected to reduce a further 110,000 cases of childhood obesity. We published the new NPM on 27 January 2026, and on 25 March 2026 we launched a 12-week consultation on its proposed application to the restrictions, as well as a consultation-stage impact assessment.

The consultation-stage impact assessment includes impacts on businesses.

The impact assessment takes account of likely consumer behaviour, using recent purchasing data and modelling which includes assumptions about how consumers and businesses may respond to the restrictions. This could include consumers switching between products and retailers using alternative promotional activity. These assumptions were tested through sensitivity analysis.

We have engaged extensively with stakeholders throughout the consultation period and sought further evidence on the potential impacts of the proposals as part of the consultation process. We will use the evidence gathered to inform the final impact assessment which, subject to the outcome of the consultation, would be published ahead of any legislative changes being made.