The food industry will fail to hit a government goal to cut sugar by a fifth by 2020 and is to push for an alternative to “arbitrary” targets. A representative of leading brands including Mars, Cadbury, Kellogg’s and Nestlé told The Times that they would reduce sugar content in food and drink but not to the government’s timescale. The admission prompted anger from campaigners, who also accused Theresa May of failing to bring in tougher, binding measures to fight obesity. A voluntary challenge to companies to cut sugar by 20 per cent was one of the few measures to survive after the prime minister ditched most of a blueprint for tackling child obesity last summer. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, told food companies in September
A representative of the UK food industry has confirmed that the sector will not reach a government target to reduce sugar by 20% by May last summer . The spokesperson for brands including Kellogg , Cadbury ’s, Mars and UK said that companies would reduce the amount of sugar in food and drinks, but not in accordance with the government’s “arbitrary” targets. The voluntary 20% target was one of the only measures to be retained from a blueprint for combating childhood obesity which was abandoned by Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt May last summer . A third of children in the UK are currently overweight.