The UK retail and foodservice sectors ought to report gross sales information for animal meat and plant-based proteins on the highway to chopping carbon emissions, a brand new report has urged.
Greater transparency can also be wanted on the gross sales of HFSS meals, UK-based charity The Food Foundation stated.
It needs extra retailers and the out-of-home channel to measure and publish information on the proportion of gross sales of foodstuffs which might be excessive in fats, salt and sugar (HFSS), and the identical for fruit and greens, together with animal and plant-based protein merchandise.
“Government inaction on making reporting mandatory has meant business progress towards a better food system has slowed, with fewer commitments to healthy and sustainable diets being set in comparison to last year,” The Food Foundation stated.
Ahead of the COP28 gathering in Dubai, which begins on Thursday (30 November), Anna Taylor, an government director on the charity, wrote: “Business transparency has stagnated, with fewer businesses disclosing sales-weighted information on well being and sustainability than final 12 months.
“This negative trend is not being helped by the lack of leadership from government on food, and the fact there is still no agreed way of consistently measuring and reporting the nutrient content and carbon footprint of food.”
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While The Food Foundation’s report acknowledged some retailers and foodservice businesses are reporting information on gross sales and have some targets for HFSS merchandise and fruit and greens, the identical couldn’t be stated for meat and their plant-based equivalents.
“Several businesses have set targets to increase sales of plant-based proteins but have not set targets to reduce sales of animal proteins,” the charity stated. “This is a problem because even if sales of plant protein have increased, it doesn’t mean sales of animal protein have decreased and therefore the GHGEs [greenhouse gas emissions] associated with meat production remain.”
The Foundation assessed 27 retailers, contract caterers, informal eating and quick-service eating places in its evaluation.
It discovered 21.5% of multibuy offers in retailers have been centred on meat and dairy, in comparison with 4.5% for fruit and greens and 4.2% for “staple carbohydrates”.
In phrases of promoting, 1% was spent on fruit and greens versus 0.8% for plant-based dairy alternate options and 9% on meat and animal-linked dairy objects.
For the “major UK restaurants”, the examine discovered 62% of major meals on supply contained meat, in comparison with 32% for the meatless selection.
The charity is urging the federal government and policymakers to “introduce mandatory reporting to create a level playing field”.
It added: “Companies are delaying moving to set new commitments until the government establishes frameworks and metrics and gives a clear signal that they are committed to the healthy and sustainable diet agenda.”
